A Tale of a Savannah Belle and a Gatlin Gent
by Liz Dark Horse
Summary: Before there was Ethan and Lena, there was another star-crossed pair of lovers who would test the bounds of love, magic, and, most of all, doing the right thing because it is never the easy thing to do. The prequel story to Beautiful Creatures and the Caster Chronicles series. Chapter 18 is now up.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I am very surprised that there hasn't been a prequel story written about Lila and Macon and their time at Duke on FanFiction, or how certain events came to pass between them and the various characters in the series. I would have thought by now there would have been a lot of stories written.  
**

**The characters of Lila and Macon will be in character, but at the same time they are teenagers both at the precipice age of 17 going on 18. They might not act how they do as adults, if they did that would be spooky wouldn't it? In time their character development will match the books. The relationship will be slow building, but it will be well paced.  
**

**I do hope you enjoy my take on a prequel of _Beautiful Creatures_ and the _Castor Chronicles_ series as a whole. I do enjoy this couple and I think their story is the most compelling in the entire series. I just wish some of the character relationships were fleshed out better. In this story those relationships will be explored, and hopefully enlighten as to how certain things came to pass. **

**Rating**** T For:**** Language, mention of underage drinking (confined to drinking wine/beer and not in excess just adding for safety), violence, some gore (discussed in later chapters), and kissing sequences.**

**Disclaimer: The _Castor Chronicle_ series does not belong to me. It belongs to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl who created a fascinating world and characters. I just hope to flesh it out a bit and include the parts I wish were written. **

**Please enjoy the story!**

**Chapter One**

_"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."_

_- Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee_

**Late August 1986  
**

Leaving Savannah, Georgia was the most freeing experience for one old soul.

For Lila Jane Evers, the world held more than enough curiosities to thirst her quench for an interesting life after the dreaded four years of high school. Her parents, back in Savannah, had applauded her for getting into their Alma Mater, Duke University. Sitting in the front seat of her beat up sky-blue Honda Civic she couldn't had been more excited herself. The world was a puzzle to be solved and Lila would figure it out.

She paused Peter Gabriel's new cassette _So_ as she wound her way up through East Campus to let the moment sink in. She was really here after waiting all those months after graduation. The green fields and edified stone buildings stood in front of her as impressive as they were in the prospective student guide, and the pictures her parents had when they had attended Duke in the past where her parent's had met.

The humidity was awful as it ever is in the South, however nothing a cold glass of sweet tea couldn't cure. Lila parked her car next to a black hearse with a South Carolina license plate on it. It was the only open spot available, since she had gotten here a tad bit later than she planned to. The black hearse was an odd car for sure to find at a university campus, but the world was filled with strange things. Just look at Ronald Reagan as the president of the United States. How could a man who destroyed the California education system get elected president? Lila shook her head. The world was full of interesting phenomenon.

She had gotten all her registration materials at the front of the school, and now found herself thinking she wish her parents and sister had come with her to help her unpack and set up her dorm room. Caroline had just gotten a job at the history museum back in Savannah and didn't have the time to come down and help her since they were putting in a new exhibit. Her attention to detail was needed more than her pair of arms it seemed. To add, her new employment came with limited vacation time. Her parents were working and couldn't take the time off either.

Lila flew solo for the first time in her life as she drove all the way up to Duke by herself. She really was growing up as her mother had said as she cried on her shoulder before she left. At first Lila thought her mother was a bit too sentimental for her own good, but after driving a few hundred miles her heart began to hurt from the separation anxiety. She had never been this far from her parents before.

No matter, she was going to do this. She had sucked it up on her drive over. Opening up the trunk of her car she grabbed her black rolling suitcase and a backpack filled to the brim with her favorite books. The backpack was so full that the seams at the bottom were strained to the point that they ripped when she swung it over her shoulder. The backpack broke and all the books, hardcover and paperback, fell onto the black hearse and the alarm on the car blared to life.

"Crap," Lila muttered in disgust at her broken backpack and dizzying alarm.

She quickly disregarded her broken backpack and picked up the books off the ground, wincing as her most prized possessions pages were wrinkled, ripped, or the hardcover dust jackets destroyed by the hot asphalt and dust. Students nearby looked at her in question, or covered their ears as they passed by giving her scowling looks for ruining their first day. It was an accident! She just hoped who ever owned the car would know she wasn't trying to steal it.

The first thing however was not a person, but a large black dog that came running up her. Actually, the dog looked more like a wolf. It had a nasty scowl on its face as it looked up at her. She normally liked dogs; her family had owned a golden retriever named Lesley. This dog however was not the friendliest she's ever met.

Its large paws were sure to break her neck if it had the chance to pounce on her. Its teeth were pointed and looked sharp enough to bite her neck clean like Sweeney Todd and his razor. The dog stepped closer to her and growled at her as if she was a menace. The dog's hind muscles were scrunched like a spring ready to attack at any moment. Lila wasn't the kind of gal to hurt any animal, but this dog wanted a piece of her and she couldn't help but be scared and ready to punch it at the same time if it came to that.

"Boo! Down boy!"

The dog whipped its neck around to look at the person who had called him. Every muscle in its body recoiled as its master wanted its attention. So, the wolf had an owner? What kind of person had a wolf around? Dogs weren't even allowed in the dormitories to begin with at Duke.

The apparent owner walked over with a dignified air. As if he grew up as royalty, or at least thought he was better than everyone else. Every step was well measured and thought out. Black hair gleamed on his head and was smoothed back into a style that even a younger Cary Grant would have approved of. _Great_. She had dealt with these kinds of people at her school who thought they were better than everyone else with their Mercedes and BMW's.

The dog named Boo trotted up to the young man who looked at the scene in front of him. The trunk of his car had a few books on top that she was about to grab but stopped once the dog came up to the car. He took out his keys and stopped the blaring alarm when he clicked a button to disengage it. Thank goodness the noise stopped.

"Are these your books?" His hand waved over the expanse of her collection.

Her face flushed a rosy crimson. Of all the things to happen on her fist day here her backpack broke and she set off a car alarm. _Great start, Jane_.

Lila thought the young man would have sneered at her, but it came out more like a question and less of an accusation. A slight southern drawl tainted his words as he spoke. Each word was measured and spoken with the same lilting grace. He picked up her worn copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee, one of her all time favorite books, off the back of the hearse's trunk.

"I'm sorry. My backpack," Lila waved to her broken bag that lay on the pavement and she picked it up and threw it in her trunk, "fell apart when I grabbed it out of my trunk and put it onto my shoulder to carry. I'll pay for damages…if there are any."

She hoped there wasn't. Duke was already going to cost a pretty penny, and she didn't have a ton of funds to depend on for emergencies. She already knew a job was in the near future.

The young man eyed the back of the hearse critically, while his dog was still on alert and gave Lila the equivalent of the evil eye. She had to give the dog credit that he was scarily loyal to his owner, to the point that Boo would want to rip her heart out.

Lila quickly gathered the remaining books and had put them back into the trunk of her car before the dog would bark or bite her. She hadn't seen any chips of paint, or any damage to be seen on the car. If anything her books came out worse for wear with the wrinkles and dust on the hardcovers.

"I don't believe that will be necessary."

As he looked at her she could see his eyes were a bronze that reminded her of a hidden fire within them. His pupils had a bit of a glassy look to them. They weren't the kind of eyes one would see every day, nor the look on his face as one of his eyebrows shot up as if he believed this whole situation was funny. To him maybe. He stood there with his hands crossed, and still held her copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in his left hand.

"That's good to know," Lila said but added quickly, "about the damages anyways. Can I have my book back Mr…" she had fumbled over what to call him, but wouldn't need to worry for long.

"Macon, you can call me Macon, Jane." She saw that he flipped open her book to see the name Jane on the backside of the cover before he handed it to her.

Her grandmother had given her the copy and wrote her middle name in it, since it was what she called her before she passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm.

"It's actually Lila, but Jane is my middle name…Maçon."

She pronounced it as the French would had intended. The o-n was stressed the same way someone would say "on" and the c given a light "s" sound. However, from the grimace on Macon's face it looked like maybe she said it wrong. She hated when she pronounced names wrong. It made her look unintelligent, something she didn't want people to see at university.

"It's actually pronounced Ma-_ken_. My mother's preference…Lila." Macon's voice seemed to soften a bit as he mentioned his mother, and looked up at her as he mentioned her name.

So instead of "on" it sounded more like "bacon." That would have been annoying to grow up with to have a name rhyme with a breakfast food.

Lila stood there as she took her book from his hands, and by accident her fingers touched his. They were cool and soft, as if he had never done a lick of hard labor in his life. A bolt of electricity had shot through her, and her heart thumped a bit faster at the encounter. She wasn't sure where that came from. Macon's dog Boo, she swore, gave her the once over as it happened.

Macon's face was impassive during the entire ordeal. A flicker of uncertainty had passed through his pupils. Outwardly, Macon thought better of it as he kneeled down to itch behind Boo's ear and the wolf melted away to show a large black puppy instead of a menacing beast.

"Huh, there's a Macon, Georgia did you know that?" Lila hadn't known why she asked Macon that. Maybe it was because he was getting ready to go back into his car to leave and she wanted him to stay? But why was she wanting him to stay? The aftershock of touching Macon's fingers told her everything she needed to know.

As he got back up he gazed at her with a thoughtful expression. "No, I did not."

He was about to get into his car, seeing as he opened up the front seat for his dog instead of opening up the back part of the hearse. As Boo entered the car, Macon walked around to the driver's side and opened his door but stopped what he was doing. He looked back at her for a second, before he entered his car and Lila moved away. The engine turned on and Boo barked, but then for no reason at all Lila went over to the driver's side window.

"I know this is weird to ask and I might be possibly be reading too much into this, but did you name your dog after Boo Radley?"

Honestly, who would name their dog after what kids had said to people when they pretend to be ghosts? It made sense to her that Boo was named after the infamous character in Harper Lee's work.

For the first time she saw a bright smile adorn his face, instead of a nonchalant expression. His unique eyes shone a bit too that allowed her to see that there was someone beneath the air of aristocracy and slight mystery.

"If I said yes, what would you say?" His eyebrow rose in the way her father's had when he was being sarcastic about something.

He was teasing her, she could see it. She had taken the bait.

"I would say that either you're incredibly the most uncreative when naming a pet because he's nothing like Boo Radley, or you're a fan of Harper's work and putting your love onto your poor little furry friend."

Lila's knew she had a smart-alec side, the one her sister Catherine told her could get her into a bit of trouble from time to time wanted to come out and play. Only in this case, Macon laughed quietly and his response was nothing short of surprising.

"Uncreative? I think it's a better name than Spot Janie, wouldn't you agree?" His voice flourished with a false sense of pretentiousness and held a great amount of humor in her honor.

Lila saw Macon start his hearse and Boo wagged his tail as if saying his own goodbye to her. Lila waved and walked back to the sidewalk as Macon pulled out. She watched as he drove out of the student parking lot without waving her goodbye.

She went back to her car and saw all the books she had collected, on the top was _To Kill a Mockingbird_. She flipped open to the back part of the cover to see her grandma's faded pen in her skillful cursive spelling out:

_For my lovely granddaughter Jane who I hope one day will be the next Harper Lee. _

Closing the book Lila thought little of her run-in with Macon believing that since this was a large school she would never see him again. However, she had hopes that she would because his smile she knew would stay with her for a long time.

**AN: I am not trying to be political with the Reagan comment. It is in the book that Lila was a Democrat, and during that time Democrats did not like the Reagan administration. Even though she cannot vote at the age of seventeen I see her as politically active and opinionated. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. **

**Please do not forget to leave a review for this chapter, or any of the following chapters. It really does let me know what I can improve on if it's constructive and more than just "good" or "more" or "I like it". Thanks for your time! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: FYI, for your information I want to let you know that I do fully intend to keep characters in, well, character. However, given the fact the two main characters are seventeen in this story and not forty they will be a bit…well not as they are in the books. They will be, in time. But it makes no sense to me to have the same character traits at seventeen and at the age of forty. So much growth happens during the college years (and life in general) from the age of seventeen to forty, and it only makes sense it would be the same for Macon and Lila. It is my hope that people will see that the growth that happens throughout this story will lead the characters to how they act in the books. I hope that makes sense. I value character development. **

**Housekeeping:**** I do not own **_**The Castor Chronicles**_**, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. I am not making any money off of this story. This story is for enjoyment purposes and a practice in craft only (besides answering my own questions and fleshing out the characters and relationships). **

**Please enjoy!**

**Also, ****please do not forget to let me know what you think in a review****. **

**Chapter Two**

The first few weeks of Duke were miserable, and not what Lila had expected at all.

For one, her roommate and she did not get along.

She had given the school her preferences for a roommate. It seems that the school thought she wanted a roommate who smoked, stayed up really late, and wanted to drink all the time instead of studying (or to have sex with every guy on the hall).

She had tried to be the positive and be the outgoing Lila people knew back in Savannah, but her frustration had limits with her roommate's behavior. Additionally, her roommate's friends were cruel. Certainly not what Lila expected when she had signed up to live in the dorms, considering all the stories her mother told her how her roommate and her got along and still best friends till this very day. The more she had to deal with it, the less appealing university became. It was high school all over again.

Second, she had gotten a part time job to help with the living expenses of school, and to help pay off the part of the tuition her scholarship wouldn't pay for. Her parents didn't exactly make a ton of money, but they did make enough to get by. She didn't mind working. Back in Savannah she worked at a friend's parent's diner where they served old fashioned milkshakes and burgers so greasy that a person could have a heart attack in three seconds (a hyperbole, but one got the picture). The atmosphere was friendly; the people were kind, and the tips respectable. She had worked there since she was fifteen and saved all the money she had to get a car and save for school.

She had gotten a job at a diner in Durham. It was not far from the school's campus, and the hours would work with her classes. Thinking it was going to be a lot like the diner back in Savannah it was disconcerting with how opposite her experiences were.

People were more demanding, mean when their orders weren't correctly made (which wasn't her problem since she double checked with every customer on their order before placing it on the swivel for the short orders to take), and would curse at her if the coffee was too hot. She couldn't control the coffee temperature. She never got into an argument with the customer because the customer was always right, as her manger put it.

Her manager also happened to be a sleaze that would get too touchy-touchy with the staff, especially of the female variety. Trouble was he wouldn't get in trouble for his interests in the females since his grandfather owned the diner but he ran it, and had a knack for using racial slurs by calling African Americans niggers. She should have quit, but she needed the money.

Back in Savannah she had no end to generous tips, but here she barely got any. Nothing was ever enough for these people, especially when her roommate came in with her friends on a weekly for burgers and shakes. They would always complain to her manager how horrid her service was, or how she messed everything up. She never did, they just wanted to get her in trouble, which they did constantly.

They also never left a tip even know there were seven of them. She asked the manager to put a mandatory service percentage for parties of five or more, but her manager scowled at such a thought. It's up to the customers, her manager would say and not her problem. It was her fault for the poor service she gave. She wanted to spit at him, but knew better.

The rest of the staff was less than sympathetic, and after her roommate and her friends left she would have cried on the spot but wanted to have some dignity seeing as they were especially mean this time around. Her focus was on her manager who berated her for her lousy service and was giving her one more chance before he fired her, but couldn't help but look out of the corner of her eye to see a man with black hair and a newspaper walk into the diner.

The man sat down at the far end of the restaurant in a booth and started to read his newspaper. It was open seating hours, so there was no hostess on duty. After her boss was finished with her, Lila walked over to the man to get his drink order. The tears around her eyes started to fall, and she used her forearm to wipe them away. She only had an hour to go before she was off for the weekend, and she was going to start to find a place to stay off campus and to find a new job.

As she walked over to the man with the newspaper, she saw it was _Le Monde_. Where in the world did he get that to begin with? She shook her head in incredibility and asked the man what he wanted to drink taking her notepad out of her apron and her blue pen from her left ear.

The man put down his newspaper, but it wasn't a man. At least, it was a man but a young man she had seen a few weeks prior in the student parking lot at Duke. Macon, if she recalled correctly. He seemed a bit surprised to see her here too, but not as surprised as she was to see him.

"What would you like to drink sir?" She had to go back on her training. She might've known him, but he was still a customer. Her manager, after all, was watching her like a scavenger ready for his next meal, which for him was preying on young woman if the broom closet had anything to say about it.

Macon raised an eyebrow as his eyes travelled up and down her figure. She wore the diner uniform: a tacky aquamarine cheap cotton dress with a white apron to accompany it. Add some roller skates and it would be the ultimate cliché. Her hair tied up in a loose bun to keep it out of the way. The diner had a fifties feeling to it, one you could find in Southern California and not in Durham, North Carolina.

"Coffee, plain no cream or sugar and…" he gazed at the menu that had been on the side of the table by the ketchup and mustard, "what pastry would you recommend, Janie?"

She wanted to say her name was Lila, but the grin on his face said it all. He was teasing her. Again. The nerve of this guy! She saw that he wore another suite, except this time it was black with pin striped trousers and a dark purple silk tie. Who wore suits to college to begin with? That was more Ivy League than Duke.

"I would recommend the cranberry muffin, but it's too sweet for someone as sour as you," she spat.

God. She knew her reaction was uncalled for, but everything came into full force: her roommate situation and her job that paid terribly because she couldn't get the tips. Her classes strained her to no end, even though she was her school's valedictorian.

She was so angry at herself and how she couldn't measure up. Her parents had loved it here, and told her she would have an amazing time. She hated it here. Hated every moment she spent here. She missed her lovely job back home and her amazing friends.

She had loved school, but dealing with lousy T.A's who weren't always that helpful didn't make things easy for her at all. She wanted someone who had it all just to get a taste of how she felt, and Macon was the perfect outlet.

Macon's eyes widened at her reaction and all the diner's occupants gazed at her. She must have said that bit a little too loud. Shit. Her boss, Leroy, came out of the kitchen and fired her on the spot, but she said she quit and untied her apron. She threw it on the ground stomped on it with her shoe.

She ran out. Not even to look back as she threw open her car door, closed it, and cried on the steering wheel. Home. She would go home tonight. She would go to the registrar's office, sign the papers, and leave. She would go back home to community college. Her parents would be disappointed in her, but she hated it here. Where was the good ol' Southern charm that she remembered back in Savannah? Not even the sports games even made her happy because she wasn't a fan of them to begin with.

As she cried, she could feel a lump form in her throat. She knew she acted out like a child, but everything wasn't going the way she had hoped. She had always figured out what to do before, but now she wondered if she was even good enough? Certainly the university life wasn't what she expected, and not what she had planned on dealing with. Everyone had praised her as being magnificent, special, and was going to change the world. What a boat load of chicken shit, even though she never understood that sentiment.

A knocking sound at her door got her attention. Before she looked up she swept her arm over her eyes to clear her tears away. It was probably her manager wanting to give her the paperwork after her childish exit, and to yell at her for embarrassing the diner's reputation. She had a few choice words up her sleeve if the time came to use them. She rolled down the window.

"I'll get the paperwork done in a moment Leroy." She waited for his mimicking to begin, but it didn't. Instead, another voice answered.

"Why would I want to be Leroy?"

That wasn't Leroy. It was Macon. She did not want to talk to him right now.

"Go away." Her vision set straight in front of her and not out the driver's side window where he was leaning in. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him, but she did not want to talk to anybody right now. Least of all Macon.

"I'm not going to leave until you apologize to me."

That did it.

Lila snapped her head up to look directly into those dark eyes that seemed unnatural.

"Why do I have to apologize to someone who doesn't even call me my proper name? And who asks a person what pastry is good when there are only three: a week old croissant, a two-day old muffin, or a terrible apple turnover."

"Well, if I knew about the less than ideal choices than maybe I would have taken my business elsewhere." Macon mused out loud, and his voice dripped sarcasm.

Lila jutted out her chin and gave him her best evil eye impression.

"Then why come at all?"

He didn't even falter. What he had said surprised her.

"Because I heard you worked here."

What? Why did that matter of all things?

"How?"

"Apparently those _beings_ that left the diner before you served me are in a class of mine, and I overheard them say they were going to pick on their favorite waitress, Lila Jane, at this _supposed _establishment." He flicked his hand towards the diner in a gesture of dismissal.

"Not the most intelligent people, if you want to call them people to begin with. They remind me too much of the people back home. Voluminous backsides and too stuck in their own mind frame for their own good. More like worms without a good sense of direction. They'll get stomped on soon enough."

Lila, even with everything that has happened to her in the past weeks couldn't help but imagine her roommates, who were on the large side to begin with when it came to their backsides, as worms. A laugh trembled its way through her throat and out of her mouth. She clamped her hand over her mouth. His metaphor, although crude, had served a purpose to make her smile seeing as Macon's eyes lit up with their own sense of wry humor.

"Well, I guess we can agree on something. Now what's the real problem?"

His voice no longer sarcastic or trying to be witty, but he seemed to genuinely care. A side of Macon she hadn't seen before, but there was a moment a few weeks before she thought it came out before he left the parking lot.

"You want to sit? It will take awhile," Lila opened her passenger door to allow Macon in.

He slid into the passenger seat. She saw his black shoes were polished and not even a speck of dust on his pant suit. Just who was Macon to begin with?

She started to explain everything. Why she was telling him she didn't know. She just needed someone to vent to. She didn't have the money for a therapist, and her parent's didn't trust them to begin with. Said they over diagnosed more often than not and not worth the price.

Her roommates, her job, and school were more than she thought she could handle. By the end of it all she was tired of everything. She wanted to go back home where it was easy.

During the entire one-sided conversation Macon listened to her. He didn't say a word. He just sat there and paid attention to what she was saying. He even handed her a tissue from her tissue box in the backseat of the car that she had for allergies, and was quiet as she blew her nose that sounded like an out of tune trumpet. By the time she was done her eyes were rimmed with red and the tears ruined her mascara, the black going down her cheeks.

God, now what did he think of her now? The kind of girl who was clumsy, klutzy, and wanted to run back home to her parents and looked like a clown. She was becoming the kind of girl she never wanted to be: the sort of person who never followed through when it came to life.

"You know the easy thing and the right thing are never the same thing Lila."

This was a first. He was using her name instead of her middle name, and of all the things he could say he started off with an aphorism?

"What are you talking about?"

Macon looked ahead of him and she got the feeling he wasn't in the moment, but more staring out into space into his own past. Then, he turned to face her and brushed a hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear.

"What I am talking about is you need to think about the right thing to do than the easy thing to do."

"And what, may I ask is that?" Lila shifted in her seat and put her hands on the steering wheel. The windows were rolled down, and she gazed up into the cloudy sky when any moment now the rain would start to fall.

"You need to stay Lila. You just need to figure out a few things. First, move out." Macon stated as he set down the tissue box back in the backseat.

"I'm not allowed to move out. I can request a room change, but moving out of the dorms is impossible for a first year."

"Not impossible. I'm not living in the dorms." Macon touched Lila's wrist in a comforting manner before removing his fingers promptly. His touch was cool on a hot, muggy day like today. She needed it more than he ever knew.

"But how, it's required!" Lila shouted.

A few patrons outside the diner looked their way and she clapped her hand over her mouth. She needed to be careful of her volume. This was a new thing, having outbursts. Her mother would paddle her backside if she saw her now.

"Not if you petition the housing department. If you can't resolve the issues with your roommate and they are not willing to work with you. You can leave. You just won't get the money back."

The way Macon said everything made it sound so simple. She didn't have a lot of money right now to pay for an off-campus rent, since she already paid for housing for the current semester which wiped her close to dry. She needed to get another job in order to do so, but she couldn't handle another week of her roommate and her friends.

"I can't," Lila whispered.

Her head drooped down to the steering wheel. Her chin accidentally honked the horn, and then automatically sat up while a few meandering patrons glared at her. Macon sat back, unperturbed at the scene before him.

"Why ever not?" Macon flecked a loose piece of dust from his pant leg, as if she was a simpleton and any person could do this.

"Because I don't have the money to pay for a deposit on an apartment! Or even a month's rent for that matter!"

Macon's attention was caught. Good. He would see that there was a real problem and that it wasn't as easy as he wanted to make it sound. She continued as she moved her body to face him. Her posture straight and her eyes glared at him so he would understand she didn't have everything like he did. She didn't need to know him, since his clothes spoke volumes that he reeked of wealth.

"I don't have a lot of money. This place," she pointed at the diner in front of them, "was my job and I quit because I had enough of it. The crap. The low tips for no reason even though I gave them excellent service, and a boss who wanted to feel me up every off-chance he had." A dark look passed over Macon's face as she mentioned her boss, but as soon as it came it left.

Macon's silence after she finished her tirade bothered her, but she saw him stuck his hand into a pocket in his trousers. He wiggled his wrist around and pulled out a check book of all things. He put the checkbook on his lap and opened it up. Inside a blue pen sat and he grabbed it starting to write on one of the checks. Oh no.

"You're not going to write me a check. I don't need the charity."

Macon's left eye rose a few inches to meet hers and he smirked.

"Think of it as a loan. I know you'll pay me back, but it would be awful to see someone like you leave Duke. Say I loan you…one thousand dollars and in six months I'll expect repayment without interest?"

One thousand dollars? And without interest? Rent wouldn't even be four hundred dollars a month. She would be living the good life with that much money. Still, she didn't want a hand out. Macon ignored her protests and opened her hand and gave her the check. Electricity traveled up her spine as his hand covered hers. He closed her palm making sure that the check did not fall out of her hand.

"You need it more than I do." He said simply as he turned away from her. His shoulder muscles tightened as if he knew what he had done would have further consequences but kept on going anyways.

Lila stared at him.

She knew next to nothing about this guy besides owning a weird car, the South Carolina license plate, and a humongous black dog that was more wolf than dog. Macon opened up her car door and before Lila knew it she grabbed his wrist before he stepped out.

"Why do this after everything I've done to you?"

Macon didn't hesitate. "Because you are a good person Lila Jane. You don't know how good." He left her car and said goodbye.

She watched him walk back to his own black hearse. He stopped midway and Lila looked out of her window to see he was struggling with himself. His weight was shifting from foot to foot, as if the next decision he made would be life changing. Macon came back and wrote down a number on a spare receipt he had and gave it to her with a jerk of his hand.

"It's my number. Call me when you find a new place. That way we can work out specifics of the loan, or…if you just need someone to talk to."

He left before she could say a word, and looked down at the spidery writing of his phone number. The black hearse came to life, and Lila gazed at the retreating car as the hum of the engine disappeared. In one hand, she held the check and in the other his number. The easy thing and the right thing, which exactly was which?

**AN: So, I do hope you enjoyed that chapter. Things are moving. As always, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think. Any advice is welcomed and wanted. Any kind of critique or criticism, as long as there is support is greatly valued. Thanks a lot. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The next day Lila officially stopped working at the diner. She signed off on her discharge papers. Leroy with his pot belly and stinky breath gave her hell for it, but told him she had a better job opportunity waiting for her

Back on campus Lila looked at one of the community boards. Her eyes passed over the various political meetings, sports signups, and then landed on the rental announcements and vacancies. There were a few places that were open for renters, but either they were too expensive or she didn't fit their age range.

She could afford the more expensive places for a bit, but Lila didn't want to spend all the money she had. She needed to budget her money for groceries, gas, car maintenance (it was an old car and liked to break down a lot), additional books for classes, healthcare insurance, and a little bit of spending money for the things she liked to do every so often like going to the drive through, the cinema, or to the local record store to buy some LP's or cassettes. Bookstores and library sales were a completely different story.

Her bank account was pretty low seeing as she wouldn't get her final paycheck until later even though she quit. She was still entitled to the pay of the days she worked. The check Macon gave her did help alleviate some of the financial stress. Lila still felt uneasy about Macon loaning her one thousand dollars like it was nothing. It probably was nothing to him considering his shoes the other day probably cost as much as the check he gave her.

Still, the faster she got a new place and found a new job, the faster she would pay him off and not be in his debt. As she perused the announcements she found one that caught her eye:

**Female Renter Wanted**

**Needs to be responsible (pay rent on time) and rolls with the punches**

**Low rent and utilities!**

**No mold, no asbestos, and an updated kitchen!**

**Large furnished bedroom and own bathroom (no sharing)!**

**Call for inquiries!**

**Marian Ashcroft**

Marian's number was printed below, and Lila tore off the stapled sign. She never had her own bathroom before because she had to share with Catherine for the longest time, and in the dorms, which had nine kinds of diseases every which way. If anything she learned so far was that she could roll with the punches, especially by a hearse-driving young man like Macon.

She went to the closest public telephone and grabbed her calling card from her wallet. She dialed the number and was about to hang up when she heard a rosy voice, "Marian Ashcroft how may I help thee? Shall I get thee to a nunnery?"

Lila had to hide a smile as she waited for an opening. She liked this woman already.

"No, but I do like the quoting of _Hamlet_. My name is Lila Jane Evers and I am interested in renting a room you advertised at Duke on one of the community boards?"

"You're the first person to call who actually knew where the quote was from. You automatically have an interview. Are you available now? I don't have classes today and have some downtime." Lila found a pen on a piece of string that was hung up by a signup sheet for a noncompetitive ultimate Frisbee league and turned over Marian's ad to write Marian's address down once she got it.

"Yes, I'm done with classes for the day."

Marian told her where the place was, and Lila thought she might know where she lived. After a few weeks in Durham she started getting a sense of where everything was located. She went back to her car, put her keys in the ignition, and pulled out of the parking lot heading to Marian's house.

The drive itself pleasant, seeing as autumn was arriving with the changing of the leaves from green to a reddish brown. Peter Gabriel's voice echoed in the car as she listened to "Solsbury Hill," which was one of her current favorite songs. Driving along she couldn't help but sing along. Already she felt free from the confines of dormitory living, even if she hadn't exactly managed to get the place just yet. She knew she would get it.

Pulling up to Marian's place, the house itself hadn't screamed indecent or dirty. In fact, it the one-story level house was nicely sized for what Lila hoped was only a two person maximum occupancy. A white truck was parked up on the driveway, and Lila had to park on the street.

Approaching the door, Lila saw the white paneled door behind the storm door. The paneling of the house was a light blue, and looked to be freshly painted within the last few weeks. The garden out front was small, but full of blooming flowers that smelled heavenly and the walkway was swept clean of autumn leaves. An assortment of Spanish moss could be found on the other side of the yard, where the grass was well groomed. As she got up to the door there was a quote by Gandhi on door. Knocking on the door Lila waited for Marian to answer.

The main door opened and through the screen storm door Lila saw an older woman (although still young, just older than her) who had darker skin but her features were kind and her eyes warm.

"You must be Lila Jane, come in come in!"

Lila entered the house and the first thing she saw was the living room filled top to bottom with books on shelves, on the floors, and in the odd little places one wouldn't expect to see books.

"It's beautiful." Lila mentioned as she walked in with a glazed look over her eyes. Marian closed the storm door behind her and stepped in front of Lila, Marian's normally wavy hair tied back into a ponytail.

"A book lover I see. I like that. It makes things easier, but if you have just as many books as I do I'm afraid this house will be more books and less livable square footage." Marian stopped before she entered the kitchen to peer at Lila.

Lila lightly fingered some older books she had seen were sitting on the coffee table, and peered at the couch where a good amount of the books Marian was using for a paper sat.

"Sweet tea or regular tea? I never know with some people." Marian's voice wafted from the kitchen, which was connected to the living room where Marian trampled in knowing she wouldn't be gracious unless she offered Lila something to drink.

Lila saw a small table set for three in front of the raised kitchen counter where the tiles were white with a brown grout separating the tiles. Lila sat at the table and put down her little black purse in front of her. The ad folded inside her purse.

"Sweet tea please. I'm originally from Georgia, so it's kind of mandatory," Lila told Marian as her eyes switched back from the various books all over the place.

This was a holy space with all these tomes. Her family considered the library to be their church. Ideas were kept alive there, so why wouldn't it be holy?

"So, the basics. You don't smoke do you?" Lila answered no and the interview process continued much in the same fashion.

The questions were mostly about her prior experiences with living with people and if she had any references from past landlords. She didn't when it came to renting. This would be her first time.

"How old are you Lila?" Marian asked.

"Seventeen." Marian frowned. Lila shifted her weight from left to right.

"On the phone I thought you were a bit older."

Chewing on her lip, Lila asked if her age was going to be a problem.

"Well, I'll need your parent's signature to sign off on the contract. Otherwise, no I don't. If you pay the rent on time I'm happy, and I have a feeling you'll be better than my other tenants. Mostly they leave because I quote too much. I'll show you the grounds, what's not covered by my books that is." Marian added a smile when she mentioned her collection of books, and Lila didn't have a problem with books. With some people she did. Books? Never.

The house wasn't large, but comfortable. The room she would be renting was indeed larger than she expected with a bed, desk, drawers, a large bookcase, a small TV with an antennae on top of a smaller bookcase. The adjacent bathroom had blue tiles on the ground and claw foot tub with a shower head attached to the wall. A hanging plastic sheet kept the water from going all over the place on a metal rod above the tub. It would be perfect. After covering when she would pay rent and how much it would be Marian asked her for a mere $250 a month, a lot lower than Lila had anticipated.

"I did after all say low rent—the place is paid off I just need some extra cash," Marian repeated.

Lila needed to get the form signed by her parent's before she could move in, but there was a deposit required. A hundred dollars upfront, Marian mentioned to her mostly as a contract from landlord to tenant. Lila had brought her checkbook with her, but knew she was going to start to use the loan Macon had given her. She had deposited the check earlier that day. As she wrote the check she couldn't get the uneasy feeling of how wrong this felt, but how much better her living situation would be. This was the right thing to do, and as she gave the check to Marian who smiled in return.

"I think this is going to work out well. So now we're done with business, now let's just talk. I want to get to know who I am going to live with."

Lila found a familiar soul in Marian as they talked about books. And books. And more books. They could probably talk all day about their favorite authors, themes, and interesting tid-bits, or favorite quotes, but Marian had other questions for her.

"So, what are you going to major in?" Marian asked as she poured her more iced tea. She had gone back to the refrigerator to grab a picture of sweet tea after the formal interview ended.

"I don't really know yet. I think I might major in American history. My civil war class is pretty interesting." Actually, it was a bit more than interesting.

The professor was her favorite so far, and the class engaging. The stories of the soldiers to the different acts that were implemented blew her mind away. She had always known that the Civil War was a piece of American history that most of the Southern States would never forget. During that time it was one of the bloodiest wars to ever be fought in North America.

"Ah yes, a time period so full of bitterness, bloodshed, and in a lot of people's minds…romantic seeing as _Gone with the Wind_ comes to people's minds." Lila couldn't help but agree.

There was, for some people, a certain kind of romanticism when it came to a time period they have never lived in, much like the Regency Era in England or even the Revolutionary War in the United States.

"You should major in it if it makes you passionate_. _After all,_ passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes things alive and significant_."

Lila thought about it for a moment. She knew this.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson?"

Marian's grin widened as Lila asked for some more sweet tea.

"Indeed it is Lila. Indeed it is."

**AN: So, I know this wasn't the most exciting chapter. However, with this story I am covering all the bases. Besides, Marian and Lila had to meet sometime, and Marian is pretty instrumental in the series. She had to have a good relationship with Lila…and Macon before Ethan and Lena found each other. I hope to show their relationship grow beyond just a renter/landlord. **

**Please do not forget to review. Let me know what works, what doesn't work, and anything you might think of that will help improve this story. Thanks for your time and happy reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I am sorry for my belated posting. I had some internet problems, got sick, and a host of other things that happened. I am better now, and I know this is a short chapter. The next one after will be longer and up sooner. I try to do bi-weekly updates, but sometimes unexpected things happen. You know how it is. **

**Just so you guys know, I re-read **_**Beautiful Darkness**_** (more like skimmed it for the Lila/Macon scenes or anything related). I do realize in the previous chapters I have forgotten quite a few things that I didn't remember in terms of details. So, in this chapter and the future chapters I'll start lining things up so it is more connected to the canon. I am still vamping Lila's character because I want her to be a strong character who is more than "honest" and "principled." It's good to be those things, but I also want to see more from her. **

**Housekeeping:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_**. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. I am not making any money off of this story. I am writing this for fun. Please do not forget to leave a review when you are finished reading. It doesn't take very long and I would really appreciate if you can tell me what is working and what is not working. Thank you!**

**Chapter Four**

"Momma, you did fax the form over to Marian right?"

"I still don't understand why you're moving out of the dorms, and what are you going to do about a job?"

Lila bit her lip as she twirled the telephone line around her finger. She had called her mother on a public pay telephone with her phone card the next day and told her everything. She faxed her mother the form Marian had given her from the school's business center. Mailing it would be too slow.

"I'm looking for a new job as we speak." Seeing as in her hand she had the latest newspaper and circled all the job opportunities in the classified section. The ones she would apply for anyways, which were most of them.

"Why did you leave the job you've already had. I thought everything was going well."

She had lied to her parents, and normally she never lied to them. It made her sick to her stomach.

Lila had been many things in her life a reader, a scholar, but never a liar. She had told them everything was fine and she was adjusting as well as they could expect. That seemed to be good enough for them at the time. However, what she said couldn't have been further from the truth.

"Well...it wasn't."

Lila, even with a noisy connection on the public phone, heard the oozing disappointment in her mother's tone as she said, "Well, I do hope you realize your father and I can't pay for your rent."

"I do realize that momma," Lila commented.

Leaning against the phone booth Lila's listened to her mother and her worries about what she wanted to do. Lila froze when her mother asked how she was going to pay her first rent in two weeks time.

"I…have the money."

"Where did you get the money? Last time you called, you told us you were picking up some extra shifts to get some more money since the tips weren't as good as you hoped. Now that you aren't working at the diner where is your income coming from. I hope you are not selling drugs Lila. We've taught you better than that."

Putting the paper between her knees with the circled jobs, Lila blew a strand of her hair out of her face in frustration. She wasn't selling drugs. Why would they think that?

"I'm not selling drugs momma."

"Then how do you have the money. The truth Lila Jane." The exhausted manner as her mother said this led Lila to believe her mother knew she was hiding something and was extremely disappointed.

"I have a loan from a friend. I said I would pay him back. That's it." Friend? When did Macon become a friend? He was just an acquaintance that she ran into twice.

"A loan? From what friend? Marian? I don't think that's the best business relationship to have." Now Lila had enough.

"It's not from Marian it's from Macon."

Shit

"Who's Macon sweetie…is he _your_ boyfriend?" The last part came out as an accusation. Lila's temper flared.

"He isn't a boyfriend. He's just a guy from Duke who I ran into. He offered to help me out. I got six months to pay him back, and I am planning to give him his money way before then. Nothing indecent. Even if he was my boyfriend why would it matter? I'm an adult!"

Lila knew she overreacted. Her mother and her, in the past, had a great relationship and would tell each other everything. Currently, Lila's short fuse liked to dominate any situation. Lila felt like her best methods of coping were either talking to Marian or to just yell at her mother. She knew she was a brat right now, but it hadn't made her change her behavior.

"You're seventeen Lila Jane Evers and if you use that tone with me I swear I will drive up there this weekend and pull you out myself. I raised you better than this, don't you go sassing your mother you hear. Now about this Macon…" Lila hung up the phone.

She never in the past hung up the phone midway through the call, but her mother's tone was accusing and livid with her making a deal with someone she really didn't know. A loud knock on the phone booth told her she had been in their way too long and needed to get out. She picked up her newspaper, pencil, and purse and left the booth. Blowing out a sigh, she needed to let go.

She was tired. Tired and annoyed with her mother, but she needed to find a job and pay back Macon so she could go on with her life.

Her mother would fax over the sheet to Marian, she knew she wouldn't go back on her word. Walking along the campus Lila wondered if she really was doing the right thing to stay here. Classes weren't any better, but the add-drop class period was over. The classes she took were final, and although she loved her American history course everything else from her Intermediate French to statistics course had her buzzing with anxiety.

Whipping out the newspaper with the circled jobs she began to see little drops of water hit the paper and the letters became muddled with ink. Glancing up into the sky Lila thought if this was her punishment for missing chapel one Sunday to go see _Star Wars_ in theatres back in 1977. Rain drops came down with vengeance seeing as her clothes were not prepared for the rain, and the students milling about were smart to have umbrellas or rain coats.

"You'll catch your death if you stand out in the rain too long."

Great, just to make her life even better. Macon.

She turned her head and saw him. His glazed back hair, she swore, had probably been greased to make it so slick. He wore a trench coat and had a large black umbrella over his head. He was dressed to kill with pinstriped pants and a matching blazer with bronze buttons. He was even wearing cuff links for crying out loud! All she wore were jeans that she rolled up because of the heat earlier and a v-neck blouse. Luckily it wasn't the white one she had, and the flip flops on her feet.

"Aren't you hot in that?" Lila pointed to his ensemble.

Macon shrugged, his shoulders rolling back at the mere thought of ever getting uncomfortable in what he wore.

"Not a bit. However, I think you'll find you might want to get out of the rain." He brought over his umbrella over her head to stop the rain from falling. The newspaper completely useless now in her hands since it was soggy. All the phone numbers and addresses of the jobs were unclear because of the ink running all over the place.

"Why don't we warm up. My car is not far from here." She was about to say the same thing about her car. They could go into one of the buildings too. Still, he had the umbrella and her clothes were already soaked. Maybe she could ask him to keep the umbrella over her head till she got back to the car. That would be a good thing.


	5. Chapter 5

**My second update for the week. I am sorry for the former chapter being up so late. Hopefully, this is a little better. **

**Housekeeping****: I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_ **Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. I am writing this story for fun and a practice in craft. I am not making money off of this story. If I was, well then I would be in jail. I don't want that, and neither do you. **

**Chapter Five**

Plans hadn't gone as she expected.

She expected to get into her car and to thank Macon for the use of his umbrella. Instead, he offered to get her a hot beverage and to dry off. Getting into his hearse was a bit perturbing. Hearses were used for funerals. She didn't know many people who owned one to drive for their own enjoyment.

"It shouldn't take that long for the heat to start working. Just make yourself comfortable."

Lila sat back and put on her seatbelt. The front of the car was no different than any other she had been in. The driver's side had the dashboard, a radio with a tape deck, and the storage compartment on the passenger side. The seats were black leather. Classy.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Macon take out his keys.

"Where's your dog?"

Macon glanced at her.

"Boo is back at my place."

"Is that where we are going, your place?"

After all he did mention hot drinks and a place to dry off. Macon shook his head.

"No, I thought we could head to a coffee shop. I thought it would be a good idea."

Well, coffee was normally a good idea. A college student's life ran on it.

Macon started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. As the stereo system came on she was surprised to hear it was classical. Most of her friends were hard core Queen, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Blondie (even though they broke up), and, of course, R.E.M fans. Her parent's liked listening to recorded symphonies when they didn't listen to old Georgian singers, which she also enjoyed from time to time.

"Is this Beethoven?" Lila could never remember European composers very well.

"Mozart," Macon replied as he drove.

"Oh."

She felt completely stupid for not knowing something she should have known. The windshield wipers had wiped away the rain drops. Lila could see they were coming down a little lighter than they were just a moment ago.

As Macon drove they passed many coffee shops from Starbucks to the local diner she had worked at, and was thankful they were not going there. Minutes dragged on in silence before Lila got tired of it and had to ask the most pressing question.

"Why a hearse?"

They were stopped a stoplight and the last piece on the tape ended. The car was silent, all but the rain falling down in the window and the rumble of the piston engine. Macon's hands were gripping the steering wheel in death grip, and Lila had her eyes cast down towards her jeans and picked at a loose thread on her shirt.

"People naturally avoid it, so it made sense for me to have it."

Well, that wasn't what she expected.

"If you wanted a car a person would avoid a Ford Pinto would have been a good choice too."

Macon coughed, and it came out like he was more hacking than a cough to clear his throat.

"A Pinto? How unflattering. I would never want to be seen in that contraption for any reason."

He had a point. They were some of the worst cars ever made, but still.

"So why would you want people to avoid a car. It has an alarm." A well-working one as she was so fortunate to find out.

As the light turned, after an unnaturally long red light, they made a left and went down the street. Macon hadn't answered her question and was about to bug him when he let out a large sigh.

"It's…an image I need to maintain. We're here." Lila would have prodded for a better answer than "an image," but found herself looking at a storefront. They had parked on the street by a parking meter.

The chalkboard on the street was pulled in closer to the overhanging so it wouldn't get wet. It looked like one of those fancy French bakeries and coffee houses. People inside were sipping their mochas and their lattes in white cups with plates underneath them. The kind of place she couldn't afford to pay for more than an eighty nine cent cup of coffee from the gas station.

"Madeline's I found has the best coffee around here, and their pastries are tasty. They warm them up and have a fireplace going." Lila would have pointed out she didn't want to spend a lot of money on coffee or pastries, but she couldn't turn down a fire.

Macon turned off his car and took out his keys. He got out of his side and told her to wait a moment. He opened her car door for her, and had the umbrella over her head before she could say anything. He held out an arm for her to take.

"I can get out by myself you know."

"Just take my hand, Lila." Fine. She got a hold on his arm as he helped her out of the hearse. A few odd couples who had umbrellas glanced at the car, but returned to their own matters. As Macon and Lila entered Madeline's the atmosphere was warm and comfortable. Macon folded his umbrella and had put it in a bucket by the front of the store.

The café's fire, located on the opposite side of the barista counter, was going strong as the flames licked the grating and the embers burned brightly. Nearby were some couches and a large flat wooden table, which hosted a variety of magazines and art books. Sitting on the couches were well dressed patrons who talked about Foucault or Beauvoir probably.

There were two comfy high backed velvet seats close to the fire place, and Macon walked over to claim them. I sat down and felt infinitely better with the fire nearby and Macon walked over to one of the couches and grabbed a blanket that hung off one of the sides. It was a small plaid blanket with blue and grey, but boy was it warm.

"I'm going to get a coffee, what would you like?" Macon peered at her as she made herself comfortable.

"I'll be fine without coffee."

Macon frowned.

"You can't use the blankets without ordering something. I'll get you a café latte, they are excellent here."

Before she could get a word in edgewise, Macon let her be.

She didn't want a café latte, but he would pay for it so she just sat back and relaxed. Taking off her flip flops she tried to situate herself so her feet were near the fire and could dry out. She knew she didn't look entirely dignified. Her body laid against an arm rest of the cherry red velvet chair and her feet hung over the other arm rest so her feet could be closer to the flames. The heat felt nice on her cold, and dirty, feet.

People were staring at her, but she paid them no mind. She had the blanked thrown over the rest of her body and she leaned up against the corner of the chair. Maybe she couldn't afford the coffee, but Madeline's sure knew how to keep a customer comfortable. She felt her eyelids start to droop close as the heat enveloped her.

"What are you doing?" Her single moment of peace had turned out to be less than a moment and more of a second. She squinted her left eye open and saw a scowling Macon before she opened both of her eyes. He held two cups of coffee and a young man a little older than Macon stood by with another plate with some kind of pastry on it looking at the scene in front of him with humor.

"Getting warm."

Macon set down the two cups of coffee on a table between the two chairs and took the pastry out of the man's hands. Scooting herself into a more proper position with her legs crossed Indian style with the blanket over them she peered at the latte in front of her. The milk and foam at the top of the cup made a picture of a leaf on a stem. Her eyebrows rose and she looked up at Macon who was sipping his coffee with no apparent problems. He turned his head to see her staring at him.

"What?"

She pointed to her cup.

"What's this?"

Macon glanced at where her finger was pointing at the white cup with a slim handle, and where the foam and milk was poured in such a way that it created a design on the very top.

"It's a café latte. It's espresso with milk, and a bit of vanilla syrup. It's just the way they poured the milk in that gives it that design."

Lila picked up the cup carefully and held it below her nose. As she inhaled the smell of the espresso and vanilla spice her mouth hadn't been able to do anything but water. Macon eyed her as she took a small sip.

Words were not able to describe the taste of that latte. She knew after this moment she was spoiled, and all thanks to Macon where he probably drank coffee here on a daily basis.

"So…" he waited for her to say something.

"It's good." A genuine smile left his lips that would make any hey-day classic movie star jealous.

The low hum of conversations filled the space, but in the corner near the fireplace Lila and Macon sat sipping on their drinks as if they were the only patrons there. They hadn't talked for a few minutes till Lila coughed.

"Thank you."

Macon lifted his eyebrow and saw that she was more than 2/3 done with her latte.

"You're welcome I hope it is warming you up."

Nodding her head Macon took that as a yes. Once she finished her latte, she changed her position and instead of sitting Indian style in the comfy chair she brought her knees close to her chest and had the blanket thrown over them. Macon just sat back in his chair with one leg crossing over the other.

"So," she began again.

Now that she was warmed up and sitting next to Macon she wanted to know more about him. If he gave her a loan, they should know each other if they're going to do business with one another.

"So," Macon drawled.

Rolling her eyes, Lila didn't give him a chance to think of a clever quip.

"Alright, first off all if we're going to be in a business arrangement I need to know a bit more about you and the same can probably said about me."

Macon finished his black coffee and nibbled on the croissant. He had broken it in half, one side was for her but she already finished it.

"Business arrangement?" He queried as he uncrossed his legs and leaned closer to her.

Oh he knew what she meant. His bronze colored eyes stared into hers and a wry grin tugged at his lips.

"The loan," she emphasized.

"Oh yes, now I see what you are talking about."

Finally she got through his pigheadedness, so she plugged on ahead.

"First off all what is your deal?"

Macon stared at her like she was speaking a foreign language, but spoke up, "I beg your pardon?"

"What is with the hearse, the way you dress, and for goodness sakes giving out money to people you barely know? Normal people don't do that." Lila hadn't understood the conundrum that was Macon. He had seemed a bit startled at her forward declaration. His eyes darkened for a moment, before he closed his eyes in pain and brought his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and took a deep sigh.

"I think we haven't been properly introduced, and you're right if we are going to have a business arrangement then we do need to get to know one another. I'm Macon Ravenwood."

**AN: Well, it might not be much of an ending for a chapter but it is the first time Lila hears his last name, so it is kind of a big deal. I know what you might be thinking that this story is slow, but I like character development. I feel as in the next few chapters things will start to move a bit quicker. In my mind maybe a bit too quick, but that could only be me. I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Chapter ten will be something to see that is for sure ;-). Expect in the coming chapters to see some familiar faces outside of Marian. **

**Please do not forget to leave a review. I know that people are reading this story, and as a writer I would like feedback on the work that I produce. I would like to say that reviews that are just one word like "good" or "more" are not entirely helpful. Say what is good about it, or not good about it. It really doesn't take more than a few minutes of your time. **

**Also, I wanted to answer the question: why a hearse? So, I think I tried to convey that. However, why do you think Macon had a hearse to begin with? **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: As promised an update before Monday (Mountain Time). **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles **_**by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. They are the sole owners of the series. I am writing this story for fun, to flesh out my favorite characters, and as a practice in craft. **

**Please enjoy! **

**Chapter Six**

"And I'm Lila Jane Evers, so let's move on shall we?"

Macon had shifted in his seat and brushed his hand through his ebony hair.

"I drive a hearse because I want to. Is that a good enough reason?"

Better than telling her it was to keep up some kind of image, she let him continue as she snuggled into the chair. They sat in the coffee store, for what seemed like hours, as Macon told her he was from Gatlin, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana. He hadn't gone into the detail besides telling her that his parents split up, and his sister lived with his mother.

"Do you have any other siblings?"

"Does it matter?" Macon replied back and his eyes averted hers.

His whole posture had stiffened when she asked him. His bronze eyes, already an unnaturally dark hue, were downright creepy in their current shade. The knuckles on his hand had become a pallid color when he picked up his coffee cup.

"I'm just asking. If you don't want to tell me fine. I just wanted to get to know you. You know as a person, and a human being."

His shoulders relaxed, if only a bit. He took a deep breath. His eyes were so piercing, so hauntingly beautiful with something he wasn't telling her. They only brightened when said the last three words, and only then.

"Let's just say half of my family I don't mind talking about, the other half I would rather forget."

"Okay, so tell me about the half you _do_ mind then."

Families were complicated in the sense that they were both a pain and a blessing. Her mother for one fit the category to a T and her father too. Macon's messy home life wasn't a topic she wanted to spend a lot of time on, but when he told her about his mother, his half sister Delphine, and Leah his whole manner changed. No longer tightly wound up, his posture loosened as he told her stories about eating beignets at Café du Monde with his mother, his sister Leah who had just recently seen again, and running into his half-sister Delphine, and her friend Barclay Kent, in Chapel Hill.

In return, she told her about her own family. About her working class parents, her father an English teacher at the local high school and her mother a secretary at the local Coca Cola bottling plant in Savannah, Georgia.

Macon hung on her every word, as if _her_ life excited him. The tales she told him of her sister and her picking peaches when they were ripe, and going to shore during the summer where they had built sandcastles together. How her sister had graduated with honors from university and worked at the history museum back in Savannah. The Thanksgiving meals where her grandma would make her famous, if always out of tradition, fried green tomatoes for the dinner. They were her favorite part, and her grandma had taught her how to make them.

"What a wonderful life." Macon said.

His eyes went unfocused for a moment.

Wonderful? The blandness was overwhelming. She hadn't traveled anywhere exotic, too expensive for her and her folks. Her friends had similar stories, and the only person who had any amazing adventure was her friend Holly who had money to go both to Disneyland and Disneyworld. Lucky duck.

"It's not that wonderful. It's bland, and not terribly exciting. I'm sure you've been better places. I mean New Orleans, the Big Easy? I've always wanted to go there."

Macon sat up straighter in his seat and leaned over his knees. He had put his elbows on them and steepled his fingers together looking intently at her. The fire beside them, once robust and licking with flames, was dulled to an ember glow. Many of the patrons had left Madeline's, leaving Lila and Macon alone in their little nook.

The sky outside had darkened within the hour. Storm clouds were rolling into the sky, and did not look like they were going to leave anytime soon. An eerie setting had overcome them with the lack of conversation, and the two of them sat in their corner in the high backed velvet seats watching one another.

Macon had closed his eyes, and Lila could tell this was his thinking face as the lines around his mouth wrinkled and his eyebrows narrowed. The muscles in his lower jaw had tightened and he was clenching his teeth. Slowly, however, those same muscles had loosened. Staring off into space for a moment, Macon had turned his head to face her. His foot had tapped the floor with a steady, and rhythmic, beat as if it would calm the rising tide.

Lila had seen only two faces on Macon. The stoic and the smirking and the pretentious and the utterly sarcastic that he had used to tease her with. Macon's face as he let out a breath showed a young man who was terribly troubled and vulnerable. Maybe asking him about his family wasn't a great idea after all.

"I might have been places Lila," he stopped for a moment. She believed Macon was trying to find the right way to phrase what he was going to say next so she waited. "But I believe your life is more desirable." He took her hand into his hand and stroked it.

She felt his fingers along the veins of her hand and glided over her knuckles, an intimate touch she had not seen coming. She would have swatted his hand away, only she couldn't. Not with what he had just said.

Desired? Her heart had dropped a little, and her chest tightened in surprise. A feeling of dizziness overcame her, but was brought back to reality when Macon suddenly stood up and mentioned they should get going. She agreed and he took their plates back to the counter. She had followed Macon back to the counter and saw forms for employment. Lila had picked one up to put it in her back pocket as the two of them left the cafe.

The rain had stopped, and Lila got back into Macon's car. The familiar tones of Mozart had filled the car with wondrous music. Macon had not said a single word, except to ask her where her car was. She told him back in the parking lot they had come out of. He dropped her off, and she had thanked him for the ride. He had grunted in reply. As Macon shifted his car into reverse Lila had knocked on his window before he could do more than that, and he rolled it down. He hadn't looked particularly happy, but neither was he mad. His face was a perfect picture of absolute stoniness as Lila felt the rain begin again.

Her heart thumped a million miles a minute. The sheer vulnerability she had seen in Macon earlier at Madeline's had gotten her thinking. He had helped her financially, but she saw a part of her deal was to help the young man in front of her. She wasn't sure exactly why, but somehow Macon Ravenwood had crawled into a tiny part of her heart and she couldn't let go. She hadn't loved him per se, which was absolute craziness since they had only just met. Lila, however, saw Macon was hurting and she never liked anybody she knew to hurt. In church, the minister had always preached to help thy neighbor and she would do just that.

"Macon," she stopped to think of what she wanted to say next.

He waited for her. His eyes staring straight ahead and replied. "What?"

"I would like…to do, what we did, again."

Macon kept staring ahead. His jaw tightened and his knuckles were so white from how hard he had clenched them. She hadn't imagined he was angry at her. Sure, she'd snapped at him, but not recently. She watched him, his eyes closed as if he was in real pain and his whole body convulsed. The ripples of his muscles rolled off him as if the world had come crashing down, and he had to deal with every aftereffect like the Greek god, Atlas.

"Macon..are you…"

"Yes." Okay?

"Yes, I would like to do this again too. It was…refreshing." Well, not quite the answer Lila had expected, but nonetheless the desired outcome.

"That's good…when?" She queried.

Macon's body relaxed and he had turned to look at her. He gave her a small smile; she believed it was supposed to be reassuring but the glassy image in his eyes haunted her.

"How about I'll find you, Jane." With that Macon left the parking lot, leaving a stranded Lila who looked back at the retreating hearse. This time she hadn't said anything about Macon calling her Jane.

**AN: **

**General housekeeping: Please do not forget to review. In all honesty, if there is something you would like me to improve please do not hesitate to mention it. I thank all my reviewers, and I also love hearing from my readers and discussing the story at hand. It's probably one of my favorite parts about writing: discussing the stories I write and gaining feedback from people. Thanks for reading again! To remind all my readers. I will update this story on a bi-weekly basis. Once I am closer to finishing the whole manuscript it will be three to four times a week. I want to get this done before I leave for a holiday on August 20, 2013. After that, I have school and it will be pretty hard to do regular updates then.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry this chapter is short, the next one will be longer I promise. **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles **_**by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I am only writing this story for fun and as a practice in craft. I am not making any money off of this story. If I was then I would be answering to the Far Keep themselves, the authors and their legal team. That wouldn't be so good now would it? **

**Chapter Seven**

"So tell me about the guy?"

Lila rolled her eyes.

Marian had come all the way out back to the campus to help her move out of her door room. Her car, a ratty old white Ford pick-up truck that made as much noise any ol' car with a tired out alternator, was on its last legs (or wheels to be correct). It scared the hell out of Lila seeing as half of her belongings were in it and had no desire to deal with a broken down. Marian told her it would hold. The car was, after all, a classic and wouldn't fall apart. A doubtful answer, given her history with white trucks back in Savannah when it came to her former beau, Logan Higgins, her high school's infamous linebacker, who had an old Chevy pickup.

It broke down while he was driving her home from the "movies," but really they were engaging in what every senior at their school had done: he broke her cherry and she was no longer a virgin. A night she wished had never happened to begin with and would rewind the clock of time if it was possible. What a runaround. The next week he had one conquest after another. What had she seen in him? The eyes, the swooning smile, and the crooked chin had done it. _Avoid crooked chins at all cost Lila Jane_ she told herself and to set herself up with a real southern gentleman once she was in college.

Lila couldn't get the conversation she had with Macon out of her head. She wasn't in love. In love would mean she would be thinking about him night and day and would want to kiss him, hold him against her, and feel his hands travel down her spine as she closed her eyes and brought her head close to his. The cool lips upon her own, his breath behind her ear and on her neck. God, the mere thoughts were enough to make her blush and Marian had seen her do it.

"There's no guy." Of course there wasn't.

They were…what? Business partners? Mutual benefactors? A loaner and a loanee? Loanee wasn't even a word to begin with. Friends?

"Of course there's a guy if you are blushing as much as you are," Marian hid a lazy smile as she slammed the back of the truck and secured Lila's belongings with some rope. The rest of Lila's things were in her own Honda, stuffed in the trunk and back seat like a clown car with the never ending room.

"I'm blushing because I just had to haul all my things from the third level of the dormitory down to the student lot and it's not as easy as it looks."

Lila knew the excuse was a poor one. Seeing as in her mind's eye a different scene appeared before her when Macon and she were at the coffee shop. Damn it. She barely knew him, except for his family problems.

"You're in denial, but I'll let you come and tell me in your own time. As they say, _the truth will set you free_."

"Book of John." Lila rolled her eyes at her friend's quip.

"Bingo. Shall we get going?" Lila couldn't wait as she got into her car and headed back towards Marian, and her, place. She had liked the sound of that.

Lila had followed Marian back to her place. She had her David Bowie tape in the tape deck playing "Heroes." It had been a favorite of hers since high school, even though it came out when she was a kid back in '77. Things were so much different then, in 1977.

She understood life. Play, happiness, and most of all she thought she knew people. What made them happy, sad, content, angry, or even ashamed. Perceptive her parent's had told her, but was she really?

Internally her body told her differently. A new feeling, a feeling she hadn't considered before took hold. She felt like a fool to think that her life was nothing the day before. She had known people who were starving across the planet in the Soviet bloc to Africa. God, she was selfish.

Selfish for thinking her life meant little, and it took way too long for her to figure this out on her own because someone else taught her that lesson. Empathy. Macon said her life was desirable and a little part of her broke because no one had ever told her that before. Not even her own parents who had wanted more for her than they could give her. No teacher, or even friend but a perfect stranger had told her.

Pulling up into the driveway, although it was a bit narrow, there were two spots that would fit Marian's truck and Lila's little Honda. As she got out of her car and went to the back to open her trunk, once she pulled the lever from the driver's side she could have sworn she saw an eerily familiar black dog out of the corner of her eye, but shook her head thinking it must be someone else's Labrador than one Boo.

"Thanks again Marian for the help." Marian's smile reached her eyes as she was pulling some boxes off of her truck.

Moving out of a dorm room wasn't a one person job, and moving in would exhaust her just the same.

"An idea, once you put away your things let's go out. A girl's night on the town, how does that sound?"

Like the perfect antidote for an emotional week and backbreaking work.

Hauling her things into her new room took less than thirty minutes once they unloaded the truck and brought the boxes in. Finding a place for everything took a bit longer. The books would be put on the bookshelf, and there were quite a few of them. Marian had more than enough room. She had no problem with clothes, since she was more on the thrifty side and only bought things when she really needed them and would go to the Army Surplus or the Salvation Army if there was anything she needed.

After close to two hours Lila felt the sweat down her back, on the back of her thighs, and under her arm pits. God, she hated the stickiness of the humidity clinging to every fold in her skin. Once she graduated she was going to get out and go west where the humidity was lower and there were more opportunities for women like her.

"Marian I'm going to take a shower before we go."

"Not a bad thought. I'll do the same."

Thank goodness Marian told her the water heater would be able to be used by two people at the same time; otherwise, it would be the dorm showers all over again lukewarm or ice cold, neither of which was preferred.

Getting into the shower, Lila felt the light prickling pressure on her back from the shower head and the soothing water as it ran down her skin. Washing the sweat and grime off of her body was a therapeutic experience Lila reveled in. She was going to start a new chapter in her life with Marian as her housemate, and realized she had to claim herself when it came to her own life. Something a young man in front of a diner alluded too, but she tacked on the right words in her mind.

Once out of the shower, and getting herself ready in general, she met with Marian outside in front of her Honda. She knew she was ready for the night ahead. She knew it would be a good night and felt it in her bones as she opened her car door and got in.

**AN: Thank you for all the dedicated readers of my little story. I invite you to leave a review letting me know what you think, what I can improve on, and anything else that is niggling in your noggins. Next update should be in a few days or less. Currently, I am working on chapter twenty three so you can be rest assured there will be updates in the future. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles **_**by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I am writing this story for fun, a practice in craft, and because I really like Macon and Lila stories and there are not enough of them around. **

**Fanofthis****: I do hope this chapter is an improvement. Macon's family will be introduced within the coming chapters, even though not so much in this chapter (just a tease). **

**Also, you're welcome for a longer chapter this time around. **

**Chapter Eight**

When it came to Durham and eating on a student budget, it wasn't easy but there was one place to go: Randy's Kitchen. Marian swore it had some of the best down home cooking this side of her grandma's kitchen, and Lila was in a mood for some sweet potato pie. Plus, on a night like tonight they had discounted meals for students at Duke.

"Ah Bowie. You know I like how he is back to his old self than Ziggy Stardust." Marian commented and Lila couldn't help but agree. Still, she hadn't minded that stage in his career.

Their conversation continued as she pulled into the parking lot. Randy's was a hopping place. Students milled around outside waiting to get a table. Including one she hadn't expected to see leaning against the stairs that led to the main restaurant: Macon.

Lila swore. She wondered how in the world that the two of them were in the same place at the same time in a rather large city. He said to her he would find her, but she thought on campus and not in front of a restaurant. Creepy, but then again there was always a logical conclusion he just wanted to eat here like they were, right?

"Lila you all right?" Marian asked.

Lila parked the car, but her attention was still on Macon. Marian directed her attention to the figure Lila was looking at.

"Ah, so the guy is here."

"He is not "the guy," Lila bit out, which came out a lot stronger than necessary.

"Oh, he's "the guy" alright. That comment reinforced it."

Muttering under her breath, Lila opened the doors so they both could get out placing her purse over her shoulders. Marian ended up heading over to Macon, and all Lila wanted to do was to stop her. She had no chance as she saw Macon smoking a cigar before his sight landed on Marian, and then her. Not a single part of his demeanor changed as he blew out the smoke and it disappeared into the air.

"My friend here," Marian pointed to her. Lila wanted to grab her shoulder and head inside the restaurant, but something stopped her. Macon gave her a tiny smile, which Marian was oblivious too as she continued, "was wondering if you would like to join us. That is of course, you are waiting for your own date?"

Holding her breath, Lila hoped he was going to say no and they would talk afterward.

"I have no previous engagements that I can speak of. I would be honored to join you and your friend, Ms?" Macon began, his southern drawl ringing clear.

"Ashcroft, but you can call me Marian. This is my friend Li—," Marian said before Macon cut her off.

"Ms. Evers and I are acquainted, but thank you nonetheless for the introduction. Shall we?" He held his arm out for Marian who obliged him, and all Lila could do was stare. Did he know she was coming? But if he had, how? It was a coincidence that was all. Shaking her head Lila followed them into Randy's.

Macon was a character of different colors, if his countenance around Marian could tell her anything. He wasn't wrapped up in his own thoughts, but rather outgoing as he spoke to Marian about books and the like. They both ended up quoting one author after another. In a disturbing way it was a little repulsive, but only because she'd never seen Macon like this, so outgoing and not a puzzle. Again, he had to be part chameleon.

She ordered a Coca Cola, Marian her old favorite sweet tea, and Macon a glass of red wine. Pinot Noir if she heard correctly. She was pretty sure he couldn't get that, but as the waiter asked for their orders he didn't even think twice about letting Macon have the wine. He had looked older than he really was, but still not that old.

"So tell me Macon," since Macon had introduced himself to Marian without Marian asking, "what are you studying."

"American History"

Huh? She hadn't known that. In fact when they talked, it was the one question she wanted to ask but did not.

"In fact we are in class together." Wait what? No they weren't? Were they? Her classes were fairly large after all.

"Fascinating." Marian murmured, while giving Lila a side glance and her eyes twinkled.

"Why didn't you say so before? That we are in the same class together?" Lila pointed out to Macon who picked up his glass of red wine and took a small sip. His lips smacked together in a smirk.

"I thought you would find out on your own, Janie."

He was being insufferable.

"Janie?" Marian had quirked her eyebrow at Lila. Macon, all the while, smiled in a serene way that made Lila want to wipe the smirk off his face.

"It's my middle name. Jane anyways is. Janie is what my mother and grandmother called me when I was a little girl, no one else. I don't go by it anymore."

"Actually, I think it still fits you quite well." Macon gave his two cents and even Marian nodded her head in agreement.

"It does fit you." She hadn't needed encouragement from the peanut gallery.

As the waiter came over to take their orders, their discussion shifted. Macon had wanted to know more about Marian and Lila. He sat back and listened during the entire time. Lila watched her friend tell them about her families exploits, and how they had been at Martin Luther King Juniors speech in Washington D.C for his "I have a Dream Speech." The more Marian spun her tale, the more awed Lila became with her friend and roommate. Her life had started out humbling enough, but she worked to get where she was today and if anything it showed Lila she could do the very same.

During this entire conversation, Macon was looking right at her but nodding at the appropriate places to make people think he was interested in Marian's stories. Maybe he was, but it didn't seem like it at that moment.

"Enough about me, what about you Macon?" Marian took a sip of her sweat tea and spread her hands in front of her as an invitation for him to speak his mind.

If experience had told her anything, it was Macon would be tight lipped about what he was going to say.

"Well it isn't about me per se, but I do have a proposition for Miss Lila Jane Evers."

What's this? Hadn't they already had a proposition to begin with?

"What's that?"

Macon brought his hands to the table and put his elbows down, while setting his chin on top of his hands in a relaxed manner.

"I have some contacts in Durham, and I was able to procure you a job at a local independent book store. Reasonable hours and better pay than your last job I assure you."

Marian smiled at him, and Lila couldn't help but stare. He had done what?

He pulled out a card out of his sport coat he was wearing, and his beady bronze eyes glanced at Marian only for a moment before redirecting them to Lila who picked up the business card.

**Greg's Book Shop**

**Barclay Kent**

**Associate Bookseller**

The address of the shop, and the main phone number, were listed under Barclay's position. Barclay seemed familiar, and then it popped up into her head. His half-sister's friend, he was his contact. Marian had begun asking him questions, while the only thing Lila could do was stare at the card in front of her.

"What do you think?"

His voice wasn't sarcastic or amused at his own self-righteous behavior, but his vulnerability showed again. The contours of his face were inviting and the lighting of the restaurant made his pale skin shine. In that moment it made him look like the person she had only seen once before at Madeline's. Her heart twisted in the pit of her stomach. God. What was she thinking?

"I think…I need to thank you. When do I have an interview?"

Macon's whole face lifted up into a smile. Lila saw, however, that he balled his left fist and the blood drained out of it at an alarming rate. Marian hadn't noticed this little detail, as she was thanking Macon for helping Lila get the job she so seriously needed. He told her the details and that Barclay would want to meet with her on Friday, and start the next day. As their dinners came, Lila wasn't sure what do but was eager that she didn't need to have a reason but eat. No one would bother her when she was in the midst of fried chicken and mashed yams. They were out of the sweet potato pie, unfortunately.

The rest of the night gone off without a hitch, as Marian had decided to order a brownie sundae for the three of them to share. Lila ate only a few bites, before putting her fork down. Marian ended up eating her fair share, but had eaten a smaller dinner. Macon had barely eaten anything at all, but had another glass of wine. He was rather skinny, which she had noticed before but hadn't commented on it. Now she knew why. He barely ate anything.

Marian and Lila had their wallets out to pay the bill, but Macon grabbed the bill before they could get a look at it and put a few twenties in there.

"I wouldn't be a proper Southern Gentleman if I didn't pay for two lovely ladies now would I?" An amused smile, headed more in Lila's direction than Marian's, came over him.

Marian thanked him for his kindness, and told them she had to use the women's washroom. That left Macon and Lila alone.

"I told you I would find you," Macon started.

Lila opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it.

"How? And are you stalking me?"

"It's a Wednesday Night, Randy's is a popular place because of their discount for students. I saw you move out of the dorms, and your roommate's truck. I gathered moving out and moving into a new place you would be exhausted, and Randy's made sense. It was only a matter of when you would come."

He was either too observant for his own good or his reasoning, as clear-cut as it was, hadn't made sense. He was not living in the dorms, so why would he even be there? Then again, he must have other friends, but she never saw him with anybody else—but her and Marian tonight. Curious seeing as Macon was the kind of person to easily fit into the higher social circles at Duke, but at the same time it didn't seem to be in his character. What did she know? The young man kept surprising her the more and more she met him.

Marian had come back, and Lila, in front of Marian, had thanked Macon herself. He said he would call Lila, seeing as Marian decided to give him their number to the house. Smiling at Lila, he know had a direct line to her when she was at Marian's. Lila's expression on her face was cool, but as she left the restaurant Macon grabbed her wrist and whispered into her ear. Marian was already downstairs and hadn't looked behind her.

"I hope you are not mad at me. On Friday, after your interview with Barclay would you meet me at Madeline's for coffee again?"

Warm and inviting, Macon's voice softened her insides like melted butter on top of a hotcake. She wanted to say no, but then again she had offered the day before to meet again. Now he was returning the favor, in the proper form than surprising her at a restaurant. She wasn't sure what compelled her, but she turned around and in his ear whispered. "I'll be there Macon." She left him with a chaste kiss on his right cheek.

She went back to her car where Marian had seen everything, but had not seen Macon look at the retreating Honda as his hand slowly traced over the place where Lila's lips had touched his skin. His eyes were wide with surprise, and a newfound sweat formed in his palms as he brought his hands to his face and his entire body shook with emotion.

**Wow, there has been a substantial increase in readership! I thank you for your interest, and I am taking everyone's feedback into consideration. I know for some of you the pacing seems a bit…slow. However, I will say things are going to start heating up very soon. **

**This story, although I had mentioned I wanted to make it as canon-like as possible might not be the fairest assessment. In the chapters I am currently writing (Chapter 26), and chapters before it, there are some slight alterations but the final outcome will be the same. It's just as I re-read **_**Beautiful Darkness**_** (and I am currently re-reading **_**Beautiful Chaos**_** and eventually **_**Beautiful Redemption**_**) I found there were things about their relationship I did not like. Still, I do hope you do continue reading this story because I might make changes plot wise, the characters will still be very much the characters we all know and love. **

**Thank you to those you have reviewed this story and giving me your two cents. Any comments are welcomed, and don't forget to leave a review.**

**I probably have been lying about bi-weekly updates more like tri-weekly. Let's just say I'll update this story three times a week and possibly more in the future. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_** by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I am only writing this story for fun, as a practice in craft, and to flesh out the characters I adore. **

**Chapter Nine**

Friday

Today

Lila hadn't run into Macon again on campus, which in itself shouldn't be odd since Duke was quite large. Besides, if she ran into him again it was against all statistical odds. Still, as she drove down to Greg's Books, the independent book store Macon had gotten her a job at, her palms started to sweat. She wasn't going to mess this up. Going back to a service job, especially like the one she had at the diner, wasn't an exciting prospect. Working at a bookstore was something to behold.

Not quite knowing where Greg's Books was she had to ask Marian if she knew of the store. She told her she hadn't heard of it but did know the street it was on, and how to get there. Better than nothing.

Driving up the street, with people walking up and down the sidewalk in their trench coats and pant suits it was obviously part of the posh part of town. Finding an open space on the street by a parking meter, Lila took it before someone else grabbed it.

Greg's Books stood out with a wooden sign swinging in the wind, and the storefront made of red bricks and a large window display that showed various books stacked caught her eye. Opening the door, a bell chimed to let the clerk know that a customer was there. The store wasn't particularly large, but well maintained and organized. There were shelves of books all across the walls and in the middle of the storefront: classics, new arrivals, used, and rare was all the way in the back.

Lila had stared in awe. The wooden book shelves gave the place character, and there was a slight taste of cedar in the air. In the background an instrumental piece of California Dreamin' by the The Mamma's and the Papa's was playing on a record player.

"Can I help you?"

A young man, a bit older than Macon with dark brown hair, came by. In his hands were a stack of books, which he put on the checkout counter and wiped his hands on his trousers. He then clapped the rest of the dust off his hands before giving her a small smile.

"I'm looking for a Barclay Kent?"

The young man coughed and held out his right hand. "You're looking at him. What can I do for you?"

So, if she remembered correctly this was the friend of Macon's half-sister, Delphine. She shook his hand.

"Hi my name is Lila Jane Evers. I was told I have a job here, by a friend of mine."

Barclay frowned.

"I don't remember speaking to a Lila Jane Evers for a job opportunity anytime recently. Maybe you're thinking of another Barclay Kent, or another store?" He suggested.

Picking up the books again he said, "You'll have to excuse me I need to get these on the shelves."

A little lost as to why he hadn't known, she decided to try something else.

"My friend Macon Ravenwood told me I had a job here."

The books Barclay held fell onto the floor in a heap. Pages scattered and dust jackets were ruined. Lila wasn't sure if they just slipped from his hands, or if there was another reason as to why he would dishonor those books so. She went down to the ground on all fours, and her brown hair fell down to her shoulders and started to pick up the books that Barclay abandoned.

Speaking of the devil, Barclay swiveled around and his complete attention was on her.

"What did you just say?"

Of all the reactions she had pictured in her mind, none of them compared to the scene before her. Barclay's hands were clenching and unclenching, and his eyes travelled up and down her as if she was a threat. He came striding up to her, each step measured and on his toes ready for…well ready for something to happen.

"I said, my friend Macon Ravenwood told me he procured a job for me at this store. He even gave me your card as a point of contact." She held out the card for him to see.

He hadn't even given her a chance as he swiped the car from her hand, almost giving her a paper cut.

Clearly, Macon had not informed Barclay of her arrival, or an offer of a job at that. Then why had Macon lied to her? It wasn't making any sense.

"Who are you?" Barclay asked. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched as if she was not welcomed here.

Hadn't she just said it a few moments ago? His feet were shoulder width apart and his hands together as if he was ready for a fight. What had she done to him? Nothing.

Frustrated, Lila walked right up to him and stared into his eyes. She wasn't going to deal with this crap. She dealt with it for too long while in Durham, and wouldn't settle for anything less than some answers.

"I said my name is Lila Jane Evers. I'm a student at Duke University. Look, whatever is going on I don't have a clue. All Macon told me was that you had a job for me. That's it. If he was playing with my head, then fine. I'll go and leave you in peace. I just thought, for one moment, that I was meant to be here. Guess not. I'll leave you Mr. Kent. Good day." Lila turned on her heal and had started to walk back towards the exit.

Before she knew it, Barclay had touched her shoulder and pulled her around.

"Wait Lila." Barclay stood there with his hands on hers and his eyes held sympathy in them.

His attention had diverted to the rest of the store, and went up to the door and changed the open sign to say closed. Quirking her eyebrow up, Barclay had waved her through the back of the store to a small office. Bunches of paper were thrown randomly about on a large wooden desk, and Barclay had done the best he could to clear them up. He closed the door behind him, his shoulders sagged and he took a deep breath while pinching his nose in the process.

"What the hell is going on?"

Censorship wasn't needed, even though if her mother or father heard her now they would want her to wash her tongue with soap immediately.

Barclay was pacing around the office, not paying a lick of attention to her at all. He kept muttering to himself, but Lila hadn't made out anything he said.

"I asked you a question."

Barclay had looked up at her with a mild amount of surprise before shook his head.

"To be perfectly honest, I have just as much as a clue as you do I'm afraid."

Considering his earlier reaction she wasn't surprised to hear this.

"Then why would Macon tell me you had a job for me?"

Honestly, why had he lied? He had no reason to, least of all to her.

Barclay scratched his chin and sat down in a large leather swivel chair and put his elbows on his knees gazing up at her.

"Nobody knows what goes on in his head most of the time; the only one who even has an inkling is his mother." Barclay commented drily.

"Guess I'm not the only one then."

Barclay's comment comforted her slightly since she wasn't the only one being hoisted around when it came to Macon Ravenwood.

"You're not." He looked at her again and stood up. As he got up he started to walk around her slowly. "Out of curiosity, how did you and Macon meet?"

She told him the whole story, even the embarrassing parts with her book bag and meeting his dog, Boo named after the character in Harper Lee's novel_._ Then, she told him about the loan.

Barclay made his way over to the desk and leaned on it. His fingers tapped the desk, each individual finger made a resounding click against the wood. Either he was lost deep in thought, or trying to figure out the devious mind of one Macon Ravenwood.

"Look," Barclay stopped his ministrations on the desk, "I can give you a job. Have you worked on a cash register before, and are you good at keeping inventory?"

She was able to do both, and Barclay was at least mildly happy that she could that much. It wasn't rocket science or anything.

He had opened one of the drawers in the desk, and pulled out the tax forms she would need to fill out for the job.

"I can't guarantee you a lot of hours, but a few hours seven days a week will work for you? Like two hours a few days, and maybe a full Sunday every week?" Lila told him she would make it work. She additionally told him her class schedule and he wrote it down.

"You won't be able to start till next week, once I get you on the payroll and have the shifts figured out. Not that it is going to be a problem, since not a lot of people work here. Pretty much Del and I, when she's feeling up to it that is."

Curious. Lila asked.

"So where is Greg then?" Barclay shrugged his shoulders.

"My father is Greg. Alas, he has…other matters to attend to. I inherited his shop, but most likely will close it soon, or sell it."

Barclay left the office, and went back to the front of the store where the books he dropped were at least somewhat in better condition, thanks to Lila. He picked them up, and winced as he saw one of the dust jackets was ripped.

"Why would you want to close it, or sell it for that matter? It's a wonderful shop."

"I'll be getting married soon, and will move out of Durham. Not sure where yet, but most likely somewhere in South Carolina."

Lila congratulated him, and asked him who the lucky woman was. At this Barclay gave her a shrug of his shoulders and peered at her with a question in his eyes.

"You didn't get the full report did you from Macon?" Lila's eyes widened when Barclay told her that he was marrying Macon's half-sister, Delphine Duchannes.

"Wait, wouldn't her last name be Ravenwood?" Barclay hesitated for a moment then replied, "Del's a modern woman. She wants to keep her own last name, it will become hyphenated when we marry and it will be on the certificate."

Ah, that made sense. Sure, it wasn't as popular as taking a significant other's last name, but who was she to stop progress?

"That makes sense." Nodding her head in understanding, she wasn't sure if she would do it herself, though.

Still, wouldn't someone want to be happy about their family getting married? If Caroline was engaged she would be over the moon, and would want to help her sister plan the wedding to the tee.

She saw Barclay lock up the store and took the cash out of the register to count. He was putting it in the safe and hadn't seemed all that smitten with the idea of getting married. One of her friends back in high school had gotten married after their graduation, and she'd been a blushing bride and the husband the equivalent.

"Aren't you happy? About your upcoming nuptials?" Barclay had run off for a moment, but then returned. He put his elbows on the checkout counter and gazed into her eyes.

"As happy as one can be when they are in an arranged marriage."

Wait, what? Who does that?

"Wait, why?" Lila hadn't been able to keep the shock out of her voice, or to speak in a coherent sentence for that matter.

"It's just what our families do. Anyways, what's your number so I can call you to give you your hours next week." He had a pencil and a paper ready to transcribe what she said.

"Just what your families do? That's so—I don't know that's so outdated to do. Do you even love Delphine?" Even if she tried to, the horror was evident in her voice and Barclay could see it in her eyes too. His face faltered for a moment and blew out a breath; a lock of his hair trembled for a moment before landing on his forehead again.

"I like Delphine. She's nice, and I'm sure we'll grow to appreciate one another. There are _worse_ people to marry trust me." He said the last part under his breath, he believed she couldn't hear him but she could.

The idea of an arranged marriage ran around her mind like a loose maniac waiting to kills its next victim, like Freddy Kruger. Just what kind of family, or families, hadn't let their own children decide their fate? She knew just the person to ask, but first she needed some information.

"Barclay what's Macon's address?"

He jumped when she had asked him that question, and then composed himself and walked over to her. He placed his left hand on her shoulder and eyed her with a frown and his emerald eyes looked into her own.

"Can I give you a tip Lila. I'll let you work here, but just…just stay away from Macon okay. It will be the best, for the both of you." Lila stepped back from Barclay.

Who did he think he was to tell her what to do? Who to see? He wasn't her father, and certainly he was no friend of hers but her employer. Endless questions had bounced around in her head, and she wanted answers. Barclay wasn't going to give them to her, but Macon would. She knew he would. If not, she was going to find a way. First, she had to deal with a Mr. Kent.

She came over to him and stood so close to him that she could see in his face he was withering under her stare and stance. She pointed a finger in his chest and punctuated each point with her index finger from her right hand.

"Look, Mr. Kent you're not my father. You might be Macon's soon to be brother-in-law, but if you think for whatever reason I am not "good" enough to hang out with Macon as a friend you have another thing coming," she said.

She saw Barclay wanted to say something as he rose in hands in a placating gesture, but didn't give him a chance to voice his own opinion.

"I am not going to have some guy who is in an arranged marriage, or in an upper echelon of society for that matter, tell me what to do. This isn't the past; it's the present and future Barclay. I am not going to be frowned upon as young woman who is part of the working class." She stepped away from her target and saw Barclay's sweaty palms as he straightened himself up. His face was punctuated by the lines around his eyes and the tips of his mouth, making him look older than maybe his late teens.

"I'm not telling you these things because of your economic background. That has nothing to do with it. It's just…it's just difficult, alright?"

"It's not that difficult Barclay. If it is, break it down for me. Make it easier for you; give me Macon's address since this isn't your fault." Barclay threw his arms up in the air and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil that sat next to the cash register. His hand wrote furiously on the pad, and Lila was worried he would burn the paper or break the pencil.

"I am not doing this for you," he pointed at her accusingly, "but because Macon dug himself into a hole, and he needs to get himself out of whatever is going on between the two of you. This does not involve me." He ripped the piece of paper from the pad and slammed it into her palm with a _smack_. For a future employer, he sure was bi-polar.

He shrunk back with exhaustion and gazed up at her with a shake of his head.

"What's your number so I can call you for your shift, and you're address as well?" Lila picked up the pad of paper and the pencil and gave him her information.

"Thanks Barclay for the job and for this," she pointed at Macon's address. She was going to talk to him tonight seeing as she knew he wouldn't be at Madeline's. Something was going on, and Lila would find out who exactly Macon was and what game he was playing.

Walking out the door, Lila had not noticed Barclay watching her as she got into her car and started the engine. A young woman, only a year or so younger than him, had appeared suddenly as she had shrouded herself when Lila had entered the store.

"What do you think he has gotten himself into, and bringing her into all this? It will not end well Barclay, not at all." The young woman said.

Although her stance was shaking seeing as she could see something only she saw. She hadn't seen the now, but all times. Barclay with a gentle touch rubbed circles around his fiancé's back as she looked out the window with him.

"Something he never expected to get himself into Del. Something he has only ever gotten a sliver of in his lifetime. Something once he turns eighteen next year he will never get again." With that the two casters walked to the back of the store to enter through the tunnels to get back to where they were staying: his father's caster house in Chapel Hill.

**AN: Alright, so things are really starting to move along now. At least I think so. Next chapter should be fairly interesting that's for sure. Anyways, thank you so much to the people who are reading this story (even though you are not reviewing I can see my stats you know). Also thank you for the people who are reviewing! It's really appreciated!**

**Again, please let me know what is working and what is not working. Is the pace good? Characterization? Details? Tension? Plot? I know that I am writing a story I am sure a lot of you probably haven't imagined, but I am trying to make this story holistic in the sense that there is more than just Macon and Lila. As there was with Lena and Ethan. This is the parallel story to them, and I want to give them the justice they deserve. Hopefully, one day (I am crossing my fingers) Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Stohl will write a prequel of Lila and Macon or write a sequel with Link and Ridley. For now, there is Fanfiction and that is enough. **


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N**_**: This story is rated Teen for a reason, just to let you know as a reminder when you read this chapter. **

**Sorry for the delayed posting. I don't have planned dates when I update chapters I just try to get at least two chapters up a week, three or four would be better since I want to get this finished before I leave on the 20****th**** of August. **

**It also doesn't help when your internet is on the fritz either. **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_** Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. **

**Chapter Ten**

She knew she wouldn't be able to talk to Macon on an empty stomach, anticipating it will be a long and eventual night ahead. She stopped at a McDonalds to get a burger, fries, and Coca Cola. She didn't have a lot of money on her at the moment and had to make do with something inexpensive.

Dark clouds were rolling into the Durham area that night, and Lila could only think of how fitting it was. Her insides were on a roller coaster. Macon had lied to her about the job, even though she did eventually get it. It hadn't made sense for him to lie to her. If he wanted her to pay him back, she would get it done faster with a job. Besides, her pay would be a lot better. However, as Barclay had told her Macon didn't make sense to most people he knew. The only person who had a shot was his mother—who was back in the Big Easy. So really no help at all.

Outside the Mickey D's there had been a public pay phone, and Lila called Marian to say she was coming back late that night. The only response Marian gave her was an "hmmm" and to say hi to Macon for her. Hanging up the telephone, Lila let out an exasperated sigh.

Looking at the address Barclay left her, she knew Macon was not where she expected him to be. She had thought he would live in the most posh neighborhoods, and living the life that even James Gatz would be enthralled with. Instead, his address was a bit more obscure and out of the way. Even though Durham was a fairly large city and part of a metropolitan area, it had its little crooks just like any other city. She found his place after a few misplaced turns here and there. Directions were not always her forte.

She pulled her car up to an old house; it was the last house on the street and a part of the historic district. An iron gate in front of it, and the house painted white but had wisteria vines growing up all over it. The house's Roman Doric columns had a bit of chipped paint on them though. The Spanish moss hung around the courtyard. There was a circular window on the top floor with iron designs around it. The overall effect was something out of a William Faulkner piece, which didn't deter her at all.

Pulling the gate open, Lila stepped into the yard. She could see the landscaping was simple, but effective. There were late-blooming flowers and plants that were ready to take their time to die, rest, and then grow anew in the spring to summer period. Gardening had never come to mind at when thinking about one Macon Ravenwood.

Going up the stairs, she heard the occasional creaks of an old home. A rocking chair sat on the upper porch, but the condition it was in told Lila that Macon hadn't used the chair ever. The chair hadn't looked safe to sit in, since it must have been over a hundred years old.

A large brass knocker in a shape of a gargoyle stared at her as she approached the front door. The eyes were beady, but she could have sworn for a brief moment they were red. Thunder rolled through the sky, and Lila jumped for a moment startled. Soon the rain came and she had, once again, forgotten an umbrella. Bringing her light jacket closer around her to fend off the chill and the rain, she grabbed the brass knocker and knocked it three times.

The rain drops were pouring with an increasing zeal. The sound of the thunder got heavier and heavier. She knocked on the door again, and put her ear to the door. She thought she heard a piano being played until she heard a loud bark. On the porch, Boo's hind legs coiled and were ready to pounce at her at any moment.

Boo's eyes…his eyes were different. Boos eyes had been green, but now they were grey. Grey and larger than she remembered them being. Even human looking. It probably was the lack of light on the porch. Lila stumbled having her back against the large brown chestnut door and Boo's growl from the back of his throat cut through the air like a hatchet to wood.

Boo barked at her, showing his razor sharp teeth and came at her. She stood her ground and yelled.

"Boo it's me! Tell Macon I want to talk to him."

Why had she thought that Boo would tell his master anything, except maybe lick his expensive shoes and wag his tail in blissful happiness.

Boo hadn't relented, and had his paws on her stomach before she could do anything else. Macon's dog was larger than any dog she had ever met, when he got up on his hand legs and his paws were on her stomach he had to been about five feet in length. Boo's eyes were searching, something she never thought she would be able to see in a dog's eyes. His breath stunk of the usual acridness of dog breath, and his teeth were near her throat. If his dog attacked her she was going to call animal services.

However, Boo got off of her chest and back onto his four feet. Boo's form was still guarded by the tightened muscles, but no longer found her a threat. She would have to talk to Macon about getting a trainer for him, since Boo seemed like the kind of dog that would kill anyone who saw someone threatening his master. Boo barked, and that is when she heard, even through the crushing rain, the door open and Macon stood there. His face, at first, had been stoic, but Lila saw underneath something was not right.

She stood there for a moment, and he didn't say a word. Boo had entered the house, and she wondered, if for a second, he would send his dog back out to finish her. Macon's eyes were narrowed, and for a single moment Macon did not look like the seventeen, debonair young man she had first met. He looked unnatural, and his already unique bronze eyes seemed to take on a dark complexion.

"Are you going to let me in, or are you just being nice to your dog?" She called out to him.

The thunder rumbled and there was a crash of lightening, startling Lila for a moment. All Macon had to do was spread his arm out and allow her to enter his humble abode. With the silk black pajamas he wore, he seemed more like a Count Dracula than a sarcastic, humor filled Cary Grant wannabee. As the door closed behind her, Lila wondered what she had gotten herself into.

She entered his house and instantly she felt like she was in a different era. The walls were made up with a brocade-like wall paper gilded with a gold and red _fleur des lis_ pattern. Iron chandeliers and candelabras with candles that hung, or sat, all over the place. The stairs had heavy ruby carpeting and gold rods that kept the carpet in place. It wasn't the kind of interior one would see a college student's home, not even the most sophisticated. Macon was a class unto himself.

Boo stopped by Macon's side, and Macon leaned over to itch behind Boo's ear and, for a moment, Macon whispered into Boo's ear and let him go his own separate way. Macon hadn't looked at her, besides the initial opening of the door and letting her in. Her insides were tumbling with anticipation as to what in the world was going on here. Mere moments ago she as sure Boo would bite her neck and she would die from rabies.

Macon had glided into the living room, where a silver tray with a silver tea pot and four tea cups with plates sat. He grabbed one of the tea cups and poured himself some tea, forgetting to offer her a cup. Not that she wanted one anyways.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

The house was too quiet for her own tastes, and he sat down one a large couch and Boo came back to wrap himself around his master's feet. A large fire in the red brick flared with the crackles of the orange and red flame. Smothering the room with a heat so palpable she felt herself sweating. Taking off her sweater, wearing a striped blue t-shirt and capri blue jeans, she sat on the couch. A few feet away from Macon.

"Why are you here Lila?" Macon had turned to look at her, his face blank of any emotion before his gaze went back to what he was looking at right in front of him. .

"I'm here because I want answers Macon."

The lights flickered in the room, and Lila was sure the storm was affecting the electricity. Macon took a sip of his tea without saying another word. Steaming, Lila stood right in front of him and he only placed his tea cup back on its white china plate. His eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to intimidate her.

"I want to know who you think you are. What kind of person lies about a job opportunity? A person who gives a random young woman money and comforts her when she was humiliated. What kind of half-brother are you to have your half-sister go into an arranged marriage? What kind of person sends more mixed messages than a prepubescent boy? And most of all what kind of person just doesn't tell me the truth. I have hid nothing from you, but you have hid everything from me. What are you in the Mafia? Tell me now so I can leave the cannolis."

A small smile had graced Macon's features for a nanosecond, before a firm mask of determination filled it. In a blink of an eye, Macon sat down his tea cup and had walked only a few steps towards her. He took his hand and placed his fingers, lightly, on her chin. She glared at him right back, unafraid. She had pepper spray in her purse if worse came to worse.

"A monster," his voice came out like a whisper and more hoarse than she expected it to be.

Macon was many things, but monster wasn't one of them.

"You're way too over the top for your own good Ravenwood." Macon's eyes pierced into her very soul.

Stunned, she felt his fingers around her wrist when a moment before they were on her chin. It wasn't so hard that he was cutting off her circulation, but enough to catch someone's attention. The sensation of lightening through her veins was hard to miss.

"You don't even know what you are saying." He blinked his eyes, and his eyes focused in on her hair and face.

His entire body was racked with emotion. Macon's seriousness pained her. Cutting her like an apple going through a juicer. He had wit, but this side of Macon was far more disturbing than even Boo Radley's aggression.

"I know when I see a drama queen and you're being one," Lila stated as she took her own hands out of Macon's grip, he had relaxed them to let her go.

They stood in the center of his living room. The tea abandoned. The flames of the fire licked the logs, casting an eerie glow into the already dim room. Not sure what overcame her, all she knew was in this moment her body was reacting.

She flipped the back side of her left hand to run over Macon's cheek. His entire body stiffened at her action, and his hand was about to take her wrist when she snatched it away. His eyes haunted, and hers determined to get under this act because that is what it was. _An act_. He wanted to run, and she wasn't going to let him. He needed to face this like a man.

She brought his hand down back to his side and moved closer to Macon. She could feel his chest heave. Heavy breaths were coming out of him, and Lila wrapped her hands around his neck. She had to get up on her tip toes to reach Macon's ears as she whispered, "I'm asking you again, what's going on?"

He nuzzled her neck and Lila closed her eyes as the feeling overwhelmed her. The rational part of her new to stop whatever was happening because something was happening. Her body had lit a flame that couldn't be controlled. A thunderclap made itself heard as the two of them came closer and closer together. Either the fire was too hot, or the fire in her belly and his were more than enough for the two of them.

Macon's breath danced along her throat and tickled her at the same time; the euphoric feeling of his weight against her was a lot to take in but the sensation took her to heights she had never been when she had been in a similar position. His voice was hoarse and full of unrestrained emotion that filled the space in her ear, "Something that shouldn't, and can't, happen."

She brought her hands tighter around him, her senses heightened to the spice and nutmeg smell he wore. Her body felt the heat traveling down to her core, but keeping herself in the moment she enjoyed the intimacy between them as Macon's hands slowly crept down her back and pulled her more into him as his hands were placed around her hip. The two locked in a position as perfect as a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle.

"Which is what?" Lila whispered into his ear.

The heat unbearable as her knees started to shake. Powerful waves of emotion filled her as she looked into Macon's eyes. Gone were the determined stoic, the playful wit, and the sarcastic mask of Macon Ravenwood. Before her was a young man who was rawer than he had been. His arms tightened around her as he brought his mouth to her ear.

"I'm falling Janie. I'm falling for you."

Before she knew what happened he kissed her, and the surprising part was that she kissed him back. Slow and tender he had brought his lips down onto her, awkward at first as if he never done this before but she opened her mouth open for him using her experience to help him. His tongue found hers and created their own rhythm, as her knees became jelly and Macon swooped her up like she was a Raggedy Ann doll. He carried her over to the couch where they continued their ministrations.

The kiss deepened to a place Lila had never been before, and she couldn't help but exhale gasps of pleasure. The feel of his mouth against hers, his body warm body against hers, and stroking his hand down the curves of her body she knew very quickly that she would become irrational if they were to continue. Her body heaved with an electrical jolt that overwhelmed her, and even in this blissful state knew that the feelings had to come to an end. Macon's eyes were only on her own, the dark depths of his eyes once puzzling to her now she could make it out. He had been hurt for so long, and only now was feeling something for the very first time in his life.

In an instant, it was all over as Macon sprang away from her and Lila stood up to see Macon pale as he looked at himself and her and whispered, "What have I done?"

One hadn't needed to know a lot of hunting lore to see the same look in Macon's eyes as a rabbit before a hunter. He wanted to run, and Lila would have none of it. They bore their souls that night, and even with all the things that happened they would not be easily forgotten.

Lila grabbed his wrist before anything could happen. The lights in the house were dimming and exploding with light faster than she thought possible, going from one extreme to another. Macon's gaze at the lights only added to his internal frustrations, even though it was just the storm causing it.

"I shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't have done that." Macon tried to get himself out of her grip, but she only held him tighter. She needed him to be real with her. He needed to be real with himself for a change instead of wearing a mask as he had been doing.

"Then why did it feel so right?"

Even Lila hadn't believed what came out of her mouth. Every part of what happened felt right. The feeling of his hands over her hips, and his tongue entwined with her own. The feelings were rushing to the forefront and she would have to keep her head. There had never been another guy who had made her feel like what she had just felt. Macon made her feel like a woman, instead of another pretty face.

Macon's eyes glazed over, either from pure emotion or some demon from his past wanting to come out and destroy him. Macon was fighting the battle. The house shook from a particular large thunderclap, but the storm within the home was far more turbulent.

"I…I don't…know," Macon's voice shook.

Hoarse and full of emotions he had never dared anyone to know about. Macon's entire body crumbled and Lila was there when he slid down to the ground near the staircase, when he had run off from their embrace in the middle of the living room. She took him into her own arms and stroked his back. His entire body rocked with sobs, but not a single cry was heard. The tears, however, fell freely.

#

As Lila rubbed circles on Macon's back she had nuzzled his neck as well. Macon smelled the faint confederate jasmine fragrance that lingered on Lila's throat. A perfume perhaps? He buried his face further into her neck. Like she was the only thing he had to live. She whispered into his ear and the shivers tingled down his spine as her voice was throat, "Whatever happened tonight Macon we can't go back, we can only go forward."

His only response was a whisper in her ear. "That was what I was afraid of."

He kissed her with more emotion than he had ever possessed. He could not turn back now, and would not turn back. He would reap what he sowed, but could not stop what he felt for her: love.

**AN: Just to let you guys know romance scenes tend to be my weakest link. So, if you have any constructive criticism to give regarding this chapter in general, or the whole advancement of Lila and Macon's relationship, I am all ears. So, we're starting to get into the meat of the story now. Thanks for those readers who have continued to read this story and review. I am hoping you are enjoying it, seeing as I am having fun writing this story too. **


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N**_**: So, I kind of lied. I am actually putting this chapter up sooner because I have plans on Sunday. I thought I would be free, guess not. Expect the next update then to be around Tuesday or Wednesday then. Maybe sooner. **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_**, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. **

**Chapter Eleven**

Macon's reaction had haunted her.

His entire countenance changed when she was the instigator, and normally she wasn't the one who started everything. Like a blown fuse everything was different now. Lila could tell he was scared. Scared far more than just falling in love, which was always a risk in its own right.

Love

A simple four letter word, but the one word which had changed the lives of many people. Not all in the most positive ways, Lila reflected. They sat by the staircase for awhile, silent for most of the time. What to do next? Lila had been in two former relationships, but neither helped her in this moment.

One had been a middle school fancy where she had her first kiss. The second in high school, a bit more serious but ultimately unsatisfying seeing as her boyfriend, Mickey, liked her at one moment— and the next liked somebody else. Enough, apparently, to hang around her form as he had his body against hers in an empty broom closet at a party hosted by one of the members of the football team.

Macon wasn't the kind of guy she normally went for; he had issues beyond the normal teenage drama. Issues, she hadn't entirely understood. Issues she would work through with him. Issues that made him afraid.

No words had to be exchanged for her to know how they both felt. When one of them had spoken, finally, Macon lifted his head to gaze at her. The tears he shed no longer visible, but he brought his hand to slowly stroke her hair behind her ears.

"What we did…" he began and Lila shifted herself closer to him. Her index finger touched his lips; a gesture she hoped would let her speak.

"What we did Macon happened."

He wasn't going to escape it, and neither could she. What happened was right, in its own chaotic way.

"I know, but…" she stopped him again, and his defenses were coming into place as he pushed her away.

"No. We shouldn't be doing this Lila." Macon got up from his seat by the stairs.

His eyes turned stormy and he had tried to put the mask of indifference back on. Lila couldn't believe him. He had bared his soul to her, and she had to him. They were both vulnerable, and Lila saw he needed something to believe in because he obliviously didn't believe what was happening. She barely had believed it herself, but the moment of truth arrived.

"Lots of things shouldn't be done Macon, what the hell are you so afraid of! We jumped off the cliff together Macon; we can't go back to the way things were. Whatever that means." Macon strode up to her his eyes hardened and body tensed.

"You. You and I…it won't work. It can't. It shouldn't. I am sorry…for everything."

Lila slapped him, her anger palpable as her hand struck his cheek. Macon's astonishment was evident from his hand touching his check. Even she was surprised at what she had done, but her emotions were boiled over and she wasn't going to stop there.

"Dammit Macon! I've dealt with morons, and I never took you as one. Whatever it is you're afraid of, it's called taking a chance. You were the one who said I needed to change my perspective, and I got some advice for you: take what comes with life. The good. The bad. The shit. The demons," At this he paled, but she continued nonetheless, "but also the moments that make life worth living. Why would anyone want to forget what makes them human. What do you have to lose?"

Her breath came out in rugged intervals. She stood there with her hands on her thighs. Never before had she been so bold with anyone, but Macon brought a side out of her she didn't think existed. Brought up as a southern belle, to be a proper young lady, and to follow her dreams, but now she had a fight she wanted to win: Macon.

He had been this arrogant young man and his hearse, but somehow over the past few weeks slowly, but surely, found a way into her heart. The tension apparent to Marian, but now she knew what it was to live. He had begun his own journey, and she would make sure he had a taste of his own medicine.

The mark of her hand on his cheek had disappeared. He had not come back at her, or even excluded an air of male dominance. Not a word was spoken as she collected her breath. His gaze on her was as if he saw her in a new light. The only words he spoke were a whispered,

"You're such a beautiful creature."

Lila, unsure of what to say to this grabbed her purse and started to walk away from him. The words chilled her to the bone. Boo, all the while, hung around the door and flopped his head to the side as she put her hand on the brass door knob to open the door to leave. As she was about to open the door, she looked over her shoulder and saw Macon only a few feet from her.

"I'm leaving."

Macon stood there, as still as her father when he saw her break his favorite smoking pipe. His expression glazed, and Lila hadn't detected a single emotion from him. This was it then. Everything that had happened might have happened, but he played her for a fool. Maybe she was the fool all along. He had lied to her after all.

"Myself." Macon's said. Lila leaned her head to the side.

"What did you say?" The rain had started again, even though the thunder had stopped.

Macon came forward a few steps. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. He went in front of her and closed the door by putting his hand on the handle.

"You asked what I was afraid of. That's my answer. Myself."

"Why?" Lila asked. Macon brought his hand to pinch his nose and moved away from the door.

Lila stood there looking at him as he brushed his hand through his greasy hair.

"It's…" he started but Lila cut him off.

"Complicated. New flash: life is complicated Macon."

"That wasn't what I was going to say," Macon's voice had its familiar wry tone to it.

Either he was avoiding her question, or they were actually going a step in the right direction. Well, considering what she had just done a few minutes ago she supposed this was better than anything. He was speaking to her, and most guys wouldn't.

"It's hard for me Lila to be…human." Lila wasn't expecting him to say anything remotely like that. Dropping her bag, Lila turned and saw the young man before her.

"It's not hard to be human Macon. All you have to do is be yourself. Just be real and true for a change."

The rain drops outside fell to a quiet patter. Boo's tail thumped on the hard wood floors, making his tail a drum and the rain outside an orchestra. Lila said her goodbyes to Macon, but as she grabbed for the brass knob one more time Macon stopped her putting his hand over hears. Lila gazed at his bronze eyes, but jutted out her chin. He knew what he wanted.

"What? I'm leaving like you wanted me to. We got what we needed off our chests so we'll go our different ways."

"No." Macon suddenly said.

Bold, decisive, and unexpected Lila's eyebrow rose a few inches.

"No what?"

"No I don't want you to leave without me saying this to you," Macon closed his eyes in pain, but when he reopened them his eyes were looking straight at her and every single emotion he felt could be seen in them. "Lila Jane Evers I love you. I don't care anymore…about anything."

He hesitated but his voice fell into a rhythm that wasn't going to be eased, "I want to be with you. This is all…all very new to me. Help me Lila, please." His voice went an octave lower, "Teach me to be human." The pain was evident in his voice as Lila sucked in her breath.

The two of them stood apart, and Lila walked up to him. She brought her hand to the cheek she had slapped, and wondered if what she was about to do was right.

He loved her.

How many guys had been that gutsy to pour their heart out to her so…so suddenly? Only, she felt the same way. It made no sense to her, but love never was logical.

She ran her hand down his jaw line as he closed his eyes and sighed and said, "I will Macon. I will because I love you too." She kissed him softly on the lips and he returned it.

She loved him, but fought with herself since the first time she saw him. It wasn't love at first sight, because it was the day at Madeline's when she first began to see that there might be something between the two of them. Even though at the time she had denied it.

He opened the door for her, and gave her a spare umbrella. Thanking him, she went out to her car. Macon stood out on his porch watching her leave. Lila wasn't even going to begin to process what had just happened or what is going to happen to her now. Her heart felt like it had been split in two directions. The first a weight had been lifted knowing her feelings for him were truer than any other guy she had been with. The second were his chilling words of teaching him to be human. Who, to begin with, wasn't human? As Lila was putting her key into the ignition and her foot on the gas pedal, Macon's voice echoed in her mind.

_You're such a beautiful creature _

She shivered, what was she getting herself into?

_**A/N**_**: Hey there again. So, I know this chapter was shorter than the last chapter. The next should be a bit longer, but I tend to write my chapters anywhere from 1500-3500 words. It's just the way it goes. I am currently writing chapter thirty, and my hope was to have this story done before I leave on August 20****th****. The whole story will be done, but it won't be entirely up on FanFiction in that time frame. So, just to let you know that after August 19****th**** there will be less updates per a week. Probably a chapter a week, but I hope to make sure that doesn't happen. I know what it is like to have stories you like not finished. I promise that will not happen, since I do have a good majority of the story written. **

**Please do not forget to let me know what you thought about this chapter anything from style, content, and pacing. I can take constructive criticism and critique, and have developed a thick skin as a writer. **


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: **_**I am so sorry!**

**I am normally pretty good about bi-weekly updates; however, three things happened this week that were somewhat unprecedented:**

**1) Internet failure—the internet I use was out the entire day yesterday. Our provider had some technical glitches and it wasn't fixed till this morning.**

**2) Up until Wednesday I was a lot busier than anticipated, so hence why the update is late. I spend some time revising/editing each chapter a great deal. So please bear with me it's why I don't put it out all at once. **

**3) I am also working on an Op-Ed piece for a paper, so that's been taking some time to write as well outside of the other things I have to do. **

**In other words, stuff came up and I am sorry for the late update. If it's any consolation this chapter is a longer chapter! Hooray! **

**Please don't forget to leave a review. I do thank those who are leaving substantial reviews, and I would like to see more. If you don't like this story, please let me know as to why so I can improve it.**

**Please don't beg for updates, since I am doing the best I can to get the chapters up here. I am sorry again. I work in the mornings and I am not always sure of how my schedule in the afternoons/evenings looks. **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles **_**by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I am not making any money off of this story. **

**Chapter Twelve**

"I knew it," Marian held a cup of decaf coffee in her hand. She sat at the kitchen table looking across at Lila who sat in her usual seat and put her hands over her face.

"Please don't say…"

"I told you so? Even the most absent minded person could see the two of you were in love."

Lila had gotten back later than she anticipated. The events at Macon's house shook her to her very core. Images flashed through her mind. His fingers weaving through her hair as his body lay was against her own, increasing her heart rate by a thousand times a second. Her cheeks warmed at the mere thought of what had occurred between them. Marian gave her a knowing smile.

"So?" she pushed. Lila wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion and took a small sip of her coffee and grimaced.

"So?"

"So, how good is he?" For a master's student in African American literature she was sure nosy in all matters concerning Lila's love life.

"If we're talking about anything involving a bed, can't report on that front." Blood rushed to her cheeks from embarrassment, but Lila continued on, "But if we're talking about kissing…he's…I…I… can't even begin to explain."

Marian sipped her coffee and her eyes were glittering. "I was right. I knew it from when I saw his eyes on you. He might not have admitted it to himself at that point, but he was falling head over heels."

Lila played with her cup of decaf coffee, and ended up picking up the spoon to put a few more sugar cubes into it. As she stirred the sugar into her over sweetened coffee she couldn't help but think about those words.

"When I left his house Marian, he told me I was such a beautiful creature."

"Poetic. Are you sure he's majoring in the right field?" Marian smiled at her. Lila sighed and glared daggers at her friend, who only rolled her eyes in return.

"The way he said it Marian, it doesn't make any sense. He also wanted me to teach him to be human. How is someone not human?"

She stared into her coffee only seeing a slight shadow of herself. Marian scooted out of her chair and came over to Lila and put her hand on Lila's shoulder.

"Well, we already know he is one for the dramatics." Lila snorted at this but Marian continued, "My best guess? He's never really had a relationship before and just doesn't know what to do. Maybe it's his way of saying I need help." Marian put a finger on her lips in thought.

Lila shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't he be straight with me?"

Marian shrugged her shoulders. "You know guys. They think we, as women, always know what they are up to. It is our superpower or something. Sometimes we are just as lost as they are."

Lila had a thought. "This is coming from experience right, more than the honky-dory high school years?"

Marian went over to pick up her coffee cup and place it in the sink. As she turned off the water faucet after washing her cup off she said, "Guys are just as mysterious as they think we are. Macon more than most. My advice? To take it slow, from the sounds of what happened you had quite a wild night."

Lila got up from her seat and took her cup into her own hands, not even finishing a third of the coffee. "Wild would be the mild word to use, more like explosive on all fronts."

As she trudged back into her own room Marian's voice could be heard through the hall.

"That's the best kind of relationship to be in."

Lila slammed her door.

#

The following weekend was dull compared to what happened on Friday night. Her first rotation at Greg's Book Store wouldn't be till Tuesday. Meaning she had Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off till she started working again. Laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning were the Saturday activities and catching up on the reading was definitely on the to-do list.

Lila also got a surprise phone call.

"Caroline?" Lila couldn't keep the smile of her face.

"Lila! Mom told me you moved and gave me your new number. So how's the university life treating you?"

Sitting on her bed, Lila took the phone off the side table and put it on top of her quilt. All the while, she wrapped the cord around her finger. A lot could be said considering what has happened in the past month. Caroline had been so busy she hadn't been able to speak with her until now.

"That bad, huh?"

Lila had been too lost in thought as her sister continued.

"Mom told me you quit your job at the diner. So, what are you going to do?"

"Actually, I have a job at a book shop." Lila heard Caroline's gasp loud and clear.

"I am not surprised. So, when do you start?"

"Tuesday."

The conversation wasn't entirely coherent as it jumped from her job, to Caroline's job and co-workers. To her father's new job as the head of the English department at her old high school because the last head, Mr. Petersen, retired. Her mother had gotten a slight bonus, but other that things in Savannah were as usual as the sweetness of Georgia peaches.

"So, any guys I should know about?" Caroline, like Marian, had a one-track mind at times.

"You're not going to ask me about how my classes are going? If you want to know they're going fine."

"Sorry." Caroline spoke and her voice softened a little, but then continued, "So how are they going, _beyond_ fine?"

There wasn't really much to expand on, but her American history class focusing on the Civil War had gotten particular interesting, since she had started to see Macon in her class. He wasn't lying about that, but he always got out of the class before she could even say anything to him. Still…

"Well, there is one guy…" Lila began. Caroline's breaths could be heard in intervals as she waited for her sister to go into detail.

"What's his name?"

"Macon Ravenwood." As she spoke the words she had goose bumps go down her flesh from their kiss the night prior.

"That's a mouthful, but it rolls of the tongue quite nicely." Lila agreed.

"What is he like? Is he a good kisser?"

"Caroline!" What was it with everyone wanting to get into her personal life?

"What it's not like you had sex with him or anything…did you?" Caroline paused, then queried. "I won't judge, as long as you know you were safe and all."

"NO!" Lila shouted on her phone, and heard a knock from Marian to see if she was okay. She covered the receiver and replied to Marian she was fine. Jesus. Minds were in the gutter everywhere.

"Alright. I was just teasing, but really what is he like?"

Lila hadn't known where to begin, so she began at the beginning. From her backpack falling apart, to the loan to get out of her housing, the meeting in the rain, the coffee shop, Randy's, Macon getting her job only to turn out that he lied, and going to confront him about it…and their kiss. How Macon hadn't wanted it to happen, and how Lila wanted him to confront whatever was going on with him head on. To where they stood now: together, at least that's what she thought.

"Wow," Caroline whispered.

"Yeah, I know." Lila agreed as she leaned back on her bed, tugging the phone cord as she did so.

"So what was the kiss like?"

"Like nothing I've ever had before."

The passion, feeling, vulnerability, and on top of everything else the rawest she had ever seen a guy feel. He hadn't tried to take advantage of her, if anything she might have been a bit more pushy. Their feelings were mutual. Trying to explain the kiss she received from Macon was like trying to deal with the IRS in two minutes. Impossible.

Caroline's insistence of knowing everything about her new boyfriend kept their time on the phone line a lot longer than anticipated. Boyfriend? Her sister's use of the word had troubled her. Had he seen their relationship that way? She hoped he had, but wouldn't know until the next time they talked. If that happened at all.

After awhile, Caroline had to get going. Finally. It's not that she hadn't liked talking to her sister, but she needed to know something. She had Macon's number from the diner on the old receipt he had written it on. She hoped he would pick up as she dialed his number. The first ring tone came, then another, and then another. Her heart started to grow cold that maybe he wasn't there. It was late, and then the dial tone stopped as the phone got picked up. The voice however was not Macon's, but a female.

"Hello who is this?" The women's voice had a hint of a Cajun accent to it, although it hadn't seemed like an old woman but a teenager. Lila's heart tightened. Steadying her breath she told the woman her name.

"This is Lila, is Macon available? I'm a classmate of his." Not sure why she added on the classmate part, she hoped the young woman would know that she wasn't a random caller to be hanged up on like a telemarketer.

A beat of silence then the woman spoke again, her voice friendly but cautious. "He is cherie. Let me go get him."

The telephone was put down and Lila could hear faintly the woman call to Macon. The steps from the wooden creaky floor of his house were a bit familiar as she heard the echo of them over the line. Macon's voice came through the receiver, sharp and businesslike.

"Lila what are you doing?" His voice strained, as if he didn't want to talk to her right now. Her heart plummeted.

"I…"

She had no words to say. There was another woman with Macon. Maybe that was why he resisted. He had a girlfriend already, and now she felt like trash. She had kissed a guy who had a relationship with another woman. She was one of those girls, the ones she and her friends used to make fun of all the time when she was a lot younger and stupider. A cheater.

"Who was that?" Lila asked. Tears threatened to overwhelm her, but she kept her voice steady.

"My sister Leah."

Macon hadn't seemed entirely happy with her call, but oh god what a relief. Unless, he been having a more than familial relationship with her, which wasn't all that uncommon in aristocratic families in the days of old. This was the twentieth century and he wasn't that kind of guy to begin with. Acid started to swash around in her stomach from that line of thinking, but Macon's voice brought her back to the present and what she had to say.

"About last night…I wanted to ask," Lila stopped for a moment to pull herself together it was now or never. She would take the fall, and hoped he would too. "Will you be my boyfriend Macon Ravenwood?"

She heard his breath catch, and his voice strained with some unknown emotion. "Lila this really isn't a good time…"

Had they just gone back three very large steps? They had made some headway, but Lila persisted, "It's a simple question Macon. Yes or No."

Then the most unexpected thing happened, his sister Leah's voice came on the line, "My brother is being ridiculous. He says yes. Yes he'll be your boyfriend." She then heard a hand clamp over the receiver, and a heated argument erupt from the sounds she was able to hear.

She heard Macon's voice as harsh as the worst waves during a hurricane and his sister's resounding arguments in a heavy, and accented, Cajun.

Minutes ticked by and Lila wondered if they would remember she was on the other end. Leah's firm voice ended the argument and whatever else was said. Macon's voice parched from the argument he had with his, she supposed, younger sister left him out of breath. Lila heard the exhaustion in his voice as her heart swelled with what he said next. "Lila would I still be on the line if I wasn't?"

Emotions tumbled through her stomach as if she had an internal fourth of July celebration, but had to keep herself together as she replied, "Knowing you, you would've hung up."

In the distance she heard a snort, his sister most likely. She would want to meet her, since she obliviously knew her brother's temperament.

A deep throaty laugh made itself heard over the line, and the familiar warmth that it brought within her made a smile appear on her face.

"I would have, wouldn't I?"

No longer worried, it was official. They were together, but who knew what that would mean? All she knew was that the uphill battle began and she would fight even if he resisted. He knew as well as she did that the kiss they shared was something else altogether and as she said goodbye to Macon for the night his voice dropped an octave as he said the most beautiful words.

"I love you, Jane."

She hadn't fought with him about her name because her heart melted. She knew this was the side of him he could be, and would help him hone. He was as human as anybody else, why did he think differently?

#

As he dropped the phone back onto the stand, his shoulders sagged as he saw Leah lean against the stairs eying him curiously.

"I tried," Macon began to speak. Leah came forward to put her finger to his lips. Her brown hair hung around her cheeks and shoulders. Her pale heart shape face tilted up to look at her brother better.

"You tried what? To deny yourself someone to love? To really love." Leah stared into his eyes, intimidating as Macon's own bronze orbs.

"You don't understand. I've done something I shouldn't have. It's won't work out in the end for us, but I can't. Remember what happened to Hannah and to momma?" His breath ragged as he spoke.

Leah saw the sweat from his forehead and his eyes widened as he stopped before her. His body shook, but his shoulders were squared and rigid.

"But I can't go back. What I felt," he put a hand on his heart and his voice became hoarse. "What I felt Leah with her the other night. I can't forget it. I try to, but I can't." Leah just came over to her brother and put her head on his shoulder, her recent growth spurt in the last few years helped her to do so.

She squeezed his arm as she heard her brother out. The brother she hadn't seen for quite some time, but only when he came to her, and her momma, a year ago did she start to see what kind of man he truly was. He was not his brother or his father, despite what he thought. She knew what kind of person he would become, but what kind of man he would be was a different story.

"I need her Leah. This might be my one and only chance to love before…" he stopped, closing his eyes.

"Before I become what I am truly meant to be. A demon. A predator walking among men."

Leah felt his head fall onto her shoulder and his breath came out in ragged breaths. No tears were shed because her brother, despite what her mother and she had said to him, believed he would be incorrigible and a monster. Leah held the belief that Macon's will was strong, and he would not be the monster he believed he would become. He knew what he was, but there were other avenues their kind could pursue. Avenues she had every intention of him knowing and she herself would follow when that faithful day came—despite the odds against them.

She rubbed circles around his shoulders and her lips came to his ears as she whispered to him.

"Don't think that way. You're my brother, and that is all that matters. Don't be afraid to fall Macon because we, mother, Delphine, Barclay, Izabel, and I will be there to catch you. Don't think you are ever alone. You are loved, despite what you think. This Lila Jane knows this too. "

Macon brought his head back up as he looked up at his sister and a thought crossed his mind.

"What if Izabel…" and Leah stopped him. "Izabel won't turn. She'll be there for you Macon. I know she will."

Leah brought her hand to his back and Macon hugged her back. Macon knew he was falling, but one could not fight the Wheel of Fate.

**As a note of reference:**** In my interpretation of Macon and Lila's history, Izabel/Sarafine at this point in time has not been claimed. She is the youngest in terms of the Duchannes/Ravenwoods. **

**Hunting/Phineas is the eldest, Macon is the middle child, and then Leah is the youngest of Arelia's children. **

**Delphine is the oldest of Emmaline's children, then Izabel/Sarafine. **

**The way I imagined it in my head is that Hunting is eighteen, Macon is seventeen, and Leah is sixteen. Delphine is sixteen (because Silas ran off with Emmaline Duchannes soon after he had Leah with Arelia who ran away). Izabel/Sarafine is fifteen years old one year before her claiming. **

**Macon ran away from Ravenwood when he was sixteen to get out Gatlin and away from his father, but knows that by his transformation Ravenwood Manor will choose him as the owner and not Hunting, who will join his blood pack instead of taking over Ravenwood. Silas is…plotting with a certain individual, and ran off leaving Hunting to take care of his wayward brother in Silas's stead and Ravenwood before Macon's change. **

**For future reference:**

**Sarafine Duchannes: 19 when she has Lena in 1990 (I know this might be stretching it a bit considering she was dark, but I don't like the idea of her being a mother before she was eighteen and Lena and Ethan are around the same age). **

**Lila Jane Ever Wate: 21 when she has Ethan in 1990 **

**None of their ages are a given in the books, but on the Castor Chronicle wiki the ages seem too young. I am allowed to have some artistic liberties, aren't I?  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_** by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The world belongs to them, and I am just writing this story for fun. **

**Chapter Thirteen**

Tuesday came sooner than she had expected it too.

Lila felt like the world shifted. Macon had declared his love for her. Who knew? Shaking her head she made her way up the stairs to Greg's Book shop, and couldn't help but keep the goofy grin off her face. She was young and in love.

The bell rung as Lila opened the door and entered the store. Her dreamy smile had caused Barclay to raise his eyebrows.

"You look happy," Barclay said.

He looked a bit younger that day, either the weekend gave him some time to relax from wedding planning or doing the laborious chore of inventory. He gave her a small smile. "So did you have some fun over the weekend? Meet a special someone?"

"I did indeed." The special someone was in his in-law, but he wouldn't know that unless she told him.

"Who? Anyone I know?" Barclay joked as he set down a box full of new arrivals and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"It's Macon. I kissed him."

Lila swore the temperature decreased and he heard a female gasp in the back of the store.

"You WHAT?" Barclay shouted.

"He kissed me back. It wasn't one-sided if you think I was leading him on or anything," Lila told him.

She had a smug smile on her face. He might be her boss, but he wasn't her father.

"He WHAT?" A young woman came running to the forefront of the store.

She was a striking beauty with blonde hair and the curves in all the right places. However, she still had a bit of baby fat on her. She was staring at Barclay. Lila got the distinct impression that this might be Delphine, Macon's half-sister.

The two of them eyed her and their faces full of disapproval. Barclay's entire body tensed up, and the young woman switched her gaze from Barclay to her in a matter of seconds. Weren't the parents supposed to react like this? Not the sibling and the fiancé? Besides, if the woman really was Macon's sister she was awfully young to be getting engaged in the first place since she looked to be around sixteen years old.

"What?" Lila said.

Barclay and the woman just stood there. Oh for Pete's Sake.

"Am I not good enough for him? Is that it because honestly you should…" before she went on Barclay cut her off. His voice rough and his jaw was clenched.

"Let me get this straight. You kissed Macon, and he kissed you back?"

Lila nodded her head. "We're together. So, you better be used to the idea. His sister, Leah, approves." As she said this, Barclay whipped his head to stare at her.

"She What?" He yelled.

"What is with all the yelling?"

Lila could not understand why they were yelling at her. Obviously, she had to get used to his family, and they would have to get used to her. No easy feat if this was their reaction for any kind of announcement.

Barclay pinched his nose and the young woman hadn't stop saying "Oh dear, oh dear." Her body shook and eyed Lila wearily.

Barclay went over to the door and was about to turn the open sign to closed before his jaw dropped. Lila wasn't sure why Barclay's face changed from one of barely contained fury to one of absolute astonishment. Lila pivoted on her heal only to see Macon stand out front and open the door before Barclay was able to.

"You know if you keep your mouth open Barclay, a fly might make its new home in it."

Barclay had shut his mouth. He stormed towards Macon with a clear agenda regarding his soon to be brother-in-law. Lila jumped back to allow Barclay a pathway, and kept herself out of his way. The young woman ran up beside Barclay and Macon tipped his hat off to the young woman.

"Hello Del," Macon said as he took off his Fedora hat and smiled at her obliviously at ease with the situation before him.

"Macon," Del said. Her voice was high-pitched and full of worry for her half-brother. Lila gnashed her teeth. Everyone, but Macon and Marian, was a critic.

"How are you…" Macon started to say before Barclay stuck his finger out at Macon in an accusing manner. Macon's eyebrows shot four feet into the air.

"Macon _Melchizedek_ Ravenwood," Barclay shouted and Macon blinked his eyes.

"What's with all the formalities Barclay?" Macon gave Lila a side-long glance, but returned his attention to Barclay.

"Don't you quip me," Barclay shook his hand out at Macon as if Macon committed some grave offense and continued onwards. "I heard from her," he pointed his hand at Lila as if she should be burned at the stake during a witch trial back in Salem, Massachusetts, "that she kissed you and _you_ kissed her back. You know as well as I do Macon that…"

"I can make my own decisions. Thank you for that enlightening piece of advice Barclay. Riveting." Macon said drily. He eyed Lila with a question in his eyes, and she mouthed she would talk to him later. He got the point, but it wasn't Barclay that said anything, but Del.

"Macon, you should really listen to Barclay he does have…" she had started to say before Macon walked over to her. He wore another black pant suit, but had a black light wool jacket to keep the chill away—not that he needed it in the store. Macon put his hand on Del's shoulder and had lightly patted it.

"Del, I thank you for your concern, but I am appalled that the two of you," his eyes flew to Barclay's, who huffed, "are taking a sudden personal interest in my affairs. I can take care of myself, as you are _very well_ aware."

Lila stood to the side of the tense filled family triangle she looked in on. Macon stood close to the door, Del to his right who scooted a few feet from her half-brother, and Barclay directly in front of him. Barclay eyed Lila and then returned his attention to Macon. Barclay walked up to Macon, his strides more even and less frantic.

"What would your mother say? Does she even know?" Barclay whispered into Macon's ears.

Lila barely heard the words that Barclay spoke to Macon, seeing as he leaned into Macon's ear to whisper to him. The only words she heard were regarding his mother, and Lila thought again this was a class issue. She had enough of the proletariat drama when it came to Macon and his ilk.

Macon's entire demeanor had changed in a flash. His shoulders were tensed up, and Lila had to bring her knit sweater closer to her as the room dropped a few degrees. Either it was her imagination or her eyesight, but she swore she saw Macon go to Barclay and pushed him to the check-out counter in less than a second. It was probably longer, but felt that short.

Macon loomed over Barclay and had his elbow angled in the direction of Barclay's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Del gasped, and even Lila thought Macon had taken it a bit too far. Macon saw what he had done and backed away. He was shaking as Barclay stood up and caught his breath staring at Macon the whole time. What was going on?

Del ran over to Barclay to make sure he was okay, and Lila had done the same for Macon to see if he was too. She had never seen a single person move that fast. Maybe Macon was a runner? He had to be with the way he moved, and used his weight to pin Barclay down.

As Barclay recovered himself his eyes widened at Macon before he shook his head in defeat and said. "Think about it."

Barclay whispered in Del's ear and she looked between Lila and Macon, and then got her things as if she was going to leave. Barclay, as he left the store, picked up his jacket and looked at Lila with a meaningful expression, then at Macon, and then back at her and sighed.

"Tomorrow? I have something to deal with right now." Lila had only to nod her head seeing as she hadn't expected to not work today.

Del and Barclay left the shop. Barclay threw the keys to the shop to Macon who caught them with no apparent trouble.

Barclay and Del's reactions were more severe than even an overprotective father, and Lila started to wonder what Macon was not telling her? Macon gazed outside the window to the retreating figures of Barclay and Del, and he closed his eyes before meeting hers. Walking over to her, he took a deep breath and held her hands in his. The palms of his hands warm as they embraced her own.

"Why did you tell them?" His voice exhausted, and even a bit disappointed.

"I was stupid. I had the goofiest look on my face and Barclay asked why and before I know it I told him. Then they overreacted." Lila shrugged it off. Macon hadn't seen it the same way as his shoulders tensed up.

"Barclay was being an ass to me about me kissing you and you kissing me back." Macon stepped away from her. His body was clenched with emotions and his knuckles pallid. His raven hair sleeked back and his face pale, for the second time Lila was intimidated by the man she loved. He turned his head to face her, his voice thick with emotion and hissed, "You know nothing. Nothing at all."

Lila stood there, her face paled as Macon continued. "They're right you know. I should have never…"

Oh for God's sake. He wasn't doing this again to her.

"Macon! Are you seriously going to have them walk all over you!" She pointed outside the window where Del and Barclay had been minutes before and didn't give him time to retort.

"You are your own person! You can make your own choices and decisions. If you want to be human that's what humans do! Make your own decision, and don't let others make them for you!" Lila's eyes bore into Macon's.

His face, a picture of determination, slid only to reveal how exhausted he really was and looked down at his own hands.

"Am I making the right one?"

He asked this to no one in particular. He wasn't asking her, she saw his gaze was far from the present. His muscles trembled through his shoulders, and Lila only had to put a hand on one of them for Macon to whip his eyes to gaze into her own blue.

"Who knows? The only way to know is for you to make a decision and stick with it. We'll take it one day at a time. That's how most people do this relationship thing." Lila fell back on her conversation with Marian.

Maybe he hadn't ever been in a relationship, and with the people she had just met it would be impossible for him to even think of having one with them breathing down his neck. He needed his own space, and she would help him get that freedom. Macon was his own person, and she would see that he knows that.

Macon's face changed as if he had a smirk permanently planted on his face. "Relationship thing? Why Lila Jane I thought you were more eloquent than that my dear." Lila socked him on his forearm playfully. His eyes glared at her, but she could see the mirth in them.

"You better watch yourself, Macon."

Macon's chuckle vibrated throughout the store as he opened the door for her and said, "I will."

**Update:**

**So, for all of you at home I'll let you in on a little secret. My story is probably going to be a bit over forty chapters long (most likely fifty). I am currently writing chapter thirty six, and I will have the full manuscript done before I leave on vacation on the twentieth of this month. However, I will not be able to put the whole story up by then because it takes me half a day to revise/edit each chapter. I work in the mornings, and sometimes my afternoons get busy so I only have later afternoon and evening to put things together. That being said, I will try to have more updates than two a week, but I also want to have time to work on the rest of the story. I am just letting you guys know that this story will get finished in case any of you are worried. **

**Please do not forget to review this chapter, or the story as a whole. Even if you don't like it, please let me know what isn't working. **


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N**_**: I am sorry for the delayed update. Wednesday I took the GRE, which is the graduate school equivalent of the SAT. My mind was pretty much fried when I got done, and I was tired. I worked on my main manuscript for awhile, and then went to bed early to go to work the next morning. Today, I had work, errands, and then I was wiped and took a nap before dinner. After dinner I was able to work on this chapter. It had a lot editing considering I hated the beginning I initially wrote, hopefully this is better. **

_**Rory- I like it when authors finish their stories as well. So, I am with you there. I also like it when authors actually put a lot of heart into their stories too. I think fifty chapters is a lot, but then again the Caster Chronicle series is filled with gigantic books!**_

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own **_**The Caster Chronicles**_**. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl own the series, and I am just writing this story for fun. **

**Please do not forget to leave a review, and to tell me what you think is working and what is not working. Thank you kindly. **

**Chapter Fourteen**

Lila hadn't thought of what she was going to do, since Barclay left and she wouldn't be working. Standing there with Macon she wondered what would come next. Macon had shifted his weight a little from his right to left side. Was he fidgeting?

"Do you want to go on a date?" Macon asked her quite suddenly.

Lila blinked at him. She hadn't expected Macon to say anything like that.

"Well, a proper one I suppose like a dinner or so would require planning, but I was thinking something a bit less formal?"

She had never seen Macon bite his lip, and it made him look younger than he tried to be. He was still a young man at seventeen after all.

"I guess. What did you have in mind?" Her mind was whizzing from this unexpected event, she tried to keep herself together.

"That we get something to eat, and then figure out from there? I'm not usually the spontaneous sort, but I am feeling it would be better to take it one step at a time?" Lila's heart melted in that moment as he, Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood, gave her a shy smile as if he was unsure of what he had just said. Lila took his hand into her own feeling his fingers wrap around her own, and the warmth of his palms soothed her.

"That sounds lovely, but there is a matter of my car?" She wondered where Macon was parked, but didn't see his car around. He chuckled.

"I had a…ride. My car is back at my place. I suppose it is a bit of inconvenience if I have you drive instead of me. That's seems terribly un-chivalrous."

Lila rolled her eyes.

"As long as you pay for the meal, we'll call it even. Besides you gave me a ride once before remember?"

As Macon got into her car, which wasn't parked far from Greg's, he said, "How could I forget?"

His voice took on an air of reverence, as if it was in that moment it meant the world to him. Shaking her head, she opened up her storage compartment. Macon eyed her curiously as she was looking for a cassette tape, and in the storage compartment between the two seats there were many, many tapes scattered in it.

"What do you like, besides classical music? I don't have any classical on me and my main radio is shot till I can fix it. The speakers and tape deck still work. I just can't get anything but AM radio." Macon's eyebrows knitted together in thought. Lila had started to pick out random albums.

"Jimmy Hendrix?" The look on Macon's face was of absolute disgust.

"Too loud," he said. Fine, that meant Queen, Aerosmith, The Sex Pistols were out too. A shame.

"R.E.M, they are a pretty good Georgia alternative rock band. Not loud, but can be a bit more mellow." Macon shook his head as if he had no idea who they were. Okay, again what a shame. She had to educate him in the ways of musical appreciation, outside of classical music that was.

"Peter Gabriel?"

"Wasn't he, correct me if I am wrong, part of a band?" Well, he had known something after all.

"He was, before he began his solo career. I have So in the tape deck already. We'll just finish it off before I am going to introduce you to the world of music outside classical. You never know what you might like." Lila had put her keys into the ignition and made sure that Macon had his seatbelt on, and she fastened hers. Macon told her she could pick the place, and she knew where they would go.

As the car started, her tape started and she heard the first notes of "In Your Eyes". The world had a sense of ironic humor. Still, Macon probably hadn't heard it, she hoped.

When Peter said love, Macon stiffened in his seat for a bit but Lila drove on. She hadn't looked at him, but decided to lower the volume thinking he might be uncomfortable. He clasped her wrist before she had turned down the volume.

"That won't be necessary."

They sat in silence, hearing Peter's vocals and the sounds of the traffic outside. What a pair they were not even talking and going on their first official date.

"So, what's the deal with Barclay—if you don't mind me asking?"

Macon looked out at the traffic in front of him, which she saw out of the very corner of her eye but paid attention to the road.

"He's just worried. He also," Macon stopped for a moment. Lila believed he wanted to collect his thoughts. "Has a slight problem with me."

Lila snorted. Slight was not the word she would use.

"That might be putting it lightly," Macon mused as he gazed at Lila.

"I'll say Macon." They were at a stop light and Lila glanced at Macon.

"Why does he have a problem with you?" Lila was going to add some quip, but decided against it.

Macon went quiet for a moment before he spoke, slowly, "He has a…problem with my family. My…father and brother mostly." Lila tapped on the steering wheel. This red light was longer than she liked it to be.

"What does he have against them?" Macon's form tensed up before he blew out a breath he had been holding.

"It probably doesn't help that I don't like them much myself, but he has his reasons. Valid ones at that." Lila had to leave it at that as the light turned green.

"So he has issues with your family, but then why have your half-sister in an arranged marriage?" Macon turned to her, his eyes wide.

"How did you…?"

"Barclay told me when I visited him and told me he had no idea I was coming." Macon averted his eyes. Keeping her eyes on the road, Lila could tell she was in a dangerous territory when it came to the topic of conversation.

Macon sighed. "Her mother, Emmaline, my step-mother, thought it would be a good match." Macon shrugged his shoulders at this.

"So, you kind of have a complicated family tree with a step-mother and half-sisters. The holidays must be crazy." Lila wondered just how crazy, and tense, they were.

"Oh you have no idea." Macon's dry voice wafted in the car. Lila had tried to hide the rising chuckle, but it came out anyways.

"Well, at least we're the same on that front. My family get-togethers aren't exactly drama proof." Lila cringed when she thought back on the Christmas dinner the year before last with her father's father praising Reagan. Her father, and mother, had wanted to beat him with the beef brisket.

Macon glanced at her as he saw where they had driven to. Lila kept her smile in check. She knew this would be the first time he had gone to a place like this.

"Sonic? A drive-in? Really Lila?"

"You said I could pick." Macon grumbled.

Lila drove into one of the empty parking spaces, the menu on her left side. She parked the car and looked over at Macon who, Lila couldn't decide, was either managing to keep his displeasure public or he was just uncomfortable being on a date in unfamiliar territory where a cup of coffee hadn't cost close to three dollars.

"There are at least a few dozen places in Durham alone that would be a lot…" Macon stopped as Lila glared at him.

"Look I know you are not used to going to a place like this, but you might be surprised. Besides, drive-ins are a tradition in my family. We used to go once a month when I was a kid, and the shakes here are fantastic." Macon eyed her wearily and Lila sighed. Thinking back to what Marian told her. This was probably his first real date, and needed to be flexible.

"At least give it a chance, and then tell me if you like it or not. If not, we won't go here again. Agreed?"

"Fair enough." Lila scooted her chair back, so that Macon caught a glimpse of the menu and frowned.

"Is there anything that isn't loaded with two thousand calories or more?"

"You're a stick Macon, one hamburger and shake isn't going to change that." Lila shook her head in an exasperated manner. The things she had to put up with.

Lila pushed the call button so that their orders could be told her what he wanted: a classic cheese burger, fries, and a vanilla shake. Well, Macon was willing to roll with the punches after all. She knew exactly what she wanted: a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake.

"Welcome to Sonic! This is Melissa how may I help you?" A preppy female voice on the other side answered. The audio had a bit static, but it was a part of the charm.

"Mellissa can we please get two cheeseburgers, two fries, and a vanilla shake and a chocolate shake. Thanks!" Melissa repeated their orders just to make sure she had written down the order correctly and said it would take a few minutes and the stereo went quiet.

"The audio needs to get fixed on that." Macon grunted and Lila gave him a nudge.

"It's a part of the charm."

"And I am guessing the overly enthusiastic Melissa is too?" He added drily.

"She's at least nice. We could have been unlucky and gotten one of the rude employees, since there are always a half dozen of them." Macon rolled his shoulders as if this hadn't concerned him a bit.

Lila blew out her breath. Glancing at Macon who had leaned back into his seat picked at his pants to try and take a piece of lint off of it. They sat there in silence. They were a real conversational bunch, the two of them. Lila decided to head into another direction.

"So, why did you want to come to Duke anyways? I'm sure a guy like you could have gotten into any school he wanted to."

Macon peered at her and his eyebrows rose up, but then blew out a breath.

"I guess you could say I wanted to stay in the South." Lila scrunched up her nose. It hadn't made a lick of sense to her why Macon, seeing as he seemed a bit more worldly than most people she knew who would want to stay south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

"You see that's where I am confused. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Georgetown…those seem like the kind of schools you would have attended." Macon started to chuckle, low and a hint of rasp to it.

"Well, I do hate to disappoint but it wasn't in the cards for me to go North."

"You didn't get in, or didn't even apply?"

"Didn't apply. I've had my sights on Duke only." Perplexed Lila waited for Macon to continue, but he hadn't.

"So I ask again, why?" Macon sighed and had put his elbows on the storage compartment between their two seats and his eyes, the bronze she was used to, had a glint of light in them.

"I wanted to go somewhere where I felt," he stopped for a moment but then blew out a large sigh. "Like I could have one more chance before…" his entire body went rigid.

"Before what Macon?" Lila saw how haunted his eyes were in that moment, but as he was about to reply a women's voice interrupted them.

"Hi! Two cheeseburgers, two fries, and one vanilla shake and one chocolate shake for order number ten!" The woman was dressed in the Sonic uniform and Macon's eyebrows rose as he took in the short buttoned white shirt and the orange skirt she wore.

Lila saw the woman put their tray onto the car with a holder, seeing as the window was already rolled down. The smell of grease and fat had hit Lila's nostrils. Her mouth watered. Nothing could beat a family drama show than a greasy fast food burger. She tipped Melissa, who had her name tag visible on her shirt. Melissa smiled at the two of them as she said enjoy and skated off back to the main booth. Lila handed Macon his burger and shake, as well as a few napkins. Things could get messy.

"Aren't you worry about your car?" Macon's eyes looked wearily at the burger and shake in front of him. Lila rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"If anything happens I'll clean it up. Just take the burger you wimp."

"I'll have you know that I am not—as you put it—a wimp." Macon grimaced as he took the burger and shake out of her hands, and Lila put his fries in the middle space for him and her to share.

"Yes you are since you are looking at your burger like it's about to eat you, and you not eating it. It's not going to kill you." Lila took a large bit out of her own cheeseburger and swallowed.

"I'm not dead."

"That remains to be seen."

"You're impossible!" Lila kept her voice low seeing as the last time she shouted with her window open it got her negative attention. Macon shrugged his shoulders, but a wry smile graced his face.

"So I've been told. Numerous times in fact." He finally took a bite out of his burger. Lila kept a small smile on her face as she sipped her chocolate shake. Watching Macon chew on his burger she had asked, "So?"

He swallowed his burger. "Greasy, fat-laden, and obliviously too much sauce and not enough lettuce, tomatoes, or anything of nutritional value," he started and Lila was going to retort but he continued, "but I can see why people would eat these things. It's not as bad as I thought it would be." Lila wanted to cheer, but kept her smirk to herself.

"And the shake?" She saw him take a sip of it.

"Pretty good. You were right, Jane." He peered at her and Lila saw a small smile making its way onto his lips. The lines were quirked up and Lila's heart melted. How had she gotten mad at him for calling her middle name? She had no problem with him calling her Jane, or Janie for that matter anymore. Better than a pet name that was.

"See? Would I lead you astray?"

Macon's eyes looked out towards the window and hadn't said anything for a moment. His shoulders went rigid, but she had put her right hand onto his shoulders. He glanced back at her.

"No, no you wouldn't." His voice came out softly, and her heart fluttered.

They ate their burgers in peace, and Lila even grabbed a fry from the basket and fed it to Macon who at first was aghast, but relented. She opened up her milkshake to allow herself to enjoy one of her favorite delicacies. Chocolate shake and fries, and Macon would at least try it once with his own vanilla shake.

"Is that how fries are supposed to be eaten? I was led to believe ketchup was preferred." Macon sniffed as he saw Lila put a fry into her own shake.

"It's how I eat them, and you should try it at least. Remember about the hamburger?" Lila hadn't been able to keep the smile from gracing her own face and saw Macon relent as he opened up his own shake and took a fry and stuck it in.

"And?"

"I must say that I would think it would be horrendous, but there is something about the salt and the vanilla mixing together that works."

Lila chuckled as she stuck another fry into her shake and ate it. Macon followed suit with his own fries. Before the both of them knew it they were finished, and Lila had pushed the button to have Melissa pick up their meal. Macon had been gracious to pay, as he repeated as any respectable southern gentleman would. Lila had only to roll her eyes letting Macon indulge himself, as she silently thought how cute he was.

Lila was about to start the car, but Macon had placed his hand on top of her own.

"Thank you."

Lila looked over to him and saw his eyes were drawn to her own. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat as he came closer to her. His lips met hers in a sweeping moment. Setting her keys down in her lap she moved closer to him and wrapped her hands around his neck. Not easily done in her small car and with Macon's frame, but they worked it out together. His kiss melted every single part of her. So sweet and loving, and, she had to laugh, old fashioned. Like something out of a Jane Austen novel or something.

Before she knew it their kissed had stopped and Macon pulled away. His hand had brushed her hair back and a slight blush made its way to his cheeks as he coughed.

"So, where to next?" He asked.

Lila thought about it for a moment and then thought of Eno River Park, and started to drive.

"How about a walk in the park?" Lila asked and looked over her shoulder to see Macon smile.

"Sounds wonderful."

**AN: I'll have you know I was listening to "Prairie Girl" by Rah-Rah when writing this chapter. Even though the song is contemporary compared to when the story take place, I think it fits quite well with this chapter. **

**I am also compiling a list of songs that fit the story on an overall spectrum. I'll have the list up when the story is completed. **

**I know this chapter had a lot of fluff, and I generally like to do more than just fluff (unless I am really in the mood). However, romance stories need to be fun at some point, and honestly I can't get it out of my head how funny it would be for Macon to have a burger with Lila. Besides, after this chapter things are really going to heat up soon on multiple fronts.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own ****The Caster Chronicles****. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. I am only writing this story for fun, and as a practice in craft. **

**Chapter Fifteen**

The two of them walked through the Eno River Park with its lush greenery and the local birds chirping away.

What a cliché, Lila thought as the two of them walked side-by-side. Lila held her bottle of Coca-Cola in her hand and Macon an Orange Soda they got from a gas station before they arrived at the park.

Macon slid his hands around her waist. Lila had scooted closer to him as they walked together through the arching trees. He was dashing as always in a navy pea coat and black slacks and wore a newsboy cap. She wore faded pair of denim jeans that were rolled up and a checkered cotton shirt buttoned up shirt. They had made quite a pair.

"Macon," Lila bit her lip. He glanced at her and gave her a reassuring squeeze around her waist.

"Where did you grow up? I know your home life isn't that great, but there must be something about where you grew up. I mean there are some beautiful places in South Carolina." They stopped and allowed a bicyclist to pass. She heard Macon suck in his breath through his teeth.

"Yes there are, but not Gatlin," Macon sneered and continued. "It's a town full of small minds, and even smaller tolerance for anything that's not within Gatlin County. People in Gatlin are either too stupid to leave or too stuck to move."

"I'm sure that isn't true. Maybe they might not like your kind of tastes, but I am sure there are some nice people there." Lila added. She knew how Macon could be.

He pointed to two guys who were rather close together and holding hands a few yards down the trail.

"If those two were to enter Gatlin holding hands like that, regardless of whatever is going on, there would be gossip for weeks on end. Everyone would be talking about them, even if they are just friends and nothing more."

Lila listened to him speak, but got the idea he hadn't liked Gatlin at all. They continued walking and Lila waved to the two guys as they walked past them. Macon kept his attention on her as they continued on the trail. She kicked the pebbles underneath her shoes every so often just to see how far they would go.

"There must be at least something there that was positive?" Macon shrugged his shoulders.

"Well…" he stopped for a moment and then continued, "there is the library. Although, every time I went there no one knew it was me, one of Old Man Ravenwood's sons."

"Why would they not know it was you? Didn't you to go high school?" Lila asked and quirked her eyebrow up at the name he gave himself.

Macon let out a howl of laughter. "Me? Attend Jackson High? Oh that's rich." Lila stared at him laughing before her cleared his eyes of the tears. When he was done he answered her in a more appropriate manner. "No, I was home-schooled. However, I spent most of my time at the library when I could."

Lila eyed Macon wearily. She shook her head. "I would at least think you went to a private school, or possibly even a boarding school. But you were home-schooled? I've never known anyone who did that."

"Well, there are people who do."

They had stumbled upon other topics of conversation, somehow finding their way into talking about plants. Something she hadn't thought Macon would be good at, but apparently he was. He tried, she found out, to improve the fauna around the Ravenwood estate.

An estate. Of course he lived in an estate.

"Actually estate is the wrong terminology to use. It's an old plantation from the Civil War era. But we don't grow anything anymore." His voice came out bitter, as if he resented the kind of lifestyle he lived. Lila figured that even with all the money in the world, a bad family life ruined any kind of happiness to exist.

She knew his parent's were split up. His mother and sister were in New Orleans and his father lived back in Gatlin, or had anyways till he left his brother, Phineas, in charge of the plantation. Macon told her he no longer went by his given name. His brother gave himself a new nickname, Hunting apparently.

"Why Hunting?"

"He thinks it's funny," Macon commented darkly avoiding her gaze.

"What he likes to shoot discs or something, or rifling in an arena?" Lila sipped at her Coca Cola while Macon had done the same with his Orange Soda.

Macon glanced at her.

"Yes…that's it."

The mood between them changed as Macon removed his hand from her waist, and Lila missed his hand there. His warm, soft hands beside her had done wonders to her heart. She wanted his hand right back where it was.

They walked in silence. Lila knew the hour was growing late and that they should probably get going. Macon nodded his head in agreement as they walked back to the park entrance. They threw their soda glasses away as they got back into Lila's car.

As Macon strapped his seat belt across his lap, Lila had her hands on the steering wheel and thought about the latter end of their day. Had she gone too far with some of her questions? Everybody had their personal demons, and Macon had a fair share of them.

"I'm sorry."

Macon had stopped fiddling with his coat and whipped his head towards her.

"Why ever would you be sorry?" His southern drawl came out heavier than usual.

"For pushing you into things you don't want to talk about."

Macon's entire form froze and Lila shrunk back wondering if, yet again, she had said something that would mire Macon deeper in his problems.

"If I didn't want to answer, I wouldn't have. Besides, you talked a lot about yourself and your family. It's only fair."

She had talked about her father, mother, and sister and growing up in Savannah was a vast difference to the life Macon lived. Not even from an economic standpoint, but the kind of life he lived. No high school. Shaking her head, Lila gazed at Macon out of the corner of her eyes.

"Did you ever get to see your mother when you were younger? You know for visitation? Normally, it's the mother who gets custody unless she…she couldn't."

Macon stared straight in front of him and started to wring his hands. "No, I did not. It wasn't till…" he paused and then continued. "It wasn't till I ran away a year ago to my mother's house that I got to see her again, and to stay with her. Let's put it this way, I needed to get out of my living situation."

Lila's jaw dropped about twenty feet before she closed it. Macon had runaway?

"But how? The state? Custody…" She thought about all the practicalities before Macon shushed her with his finger on her lips.

"Well, let's just say my mother won that battle. She can be a very formidable woman."

"So you lived with her and your sister before you came to Duke?" Macon nodded his head. At least he saw his mother again, and his sister who she had only spoken to briefly on the telephone.

Lila pulled out her car as she put the car into reverse and looked out her back window to make sure there was no incoming traffic or pedestrians walking about. She asked Macon what it was like to live in the Big Easy and all he said was, "Not Gatlin."

Lila hadn't needed to know anything more, since knowing Macon this was enough of an answer. As she drove along back to Macon's house a question popped in her mind.

"What do you want to do with your life Macon?"

Macon glanced out the window as they entered his neighborhood and his eyes knitted together.

"It's not something I really thought about."

"Do you think you want to start a family of your own?" Lila wasn't sure why she asked this very question, but a part of her was curious. Macon's entire body tightened up.

"I'm fairly sure that having a family is out of the cards for me," Macon remarked. His voice rough and not happy with the direction the discussion had headed. Once they were in front of Macon's house Lila parked the car and stared at him as they got out of the car.

"You never know what will happen in your life Macon. I mean I know we're young, the both of us," Lila stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts before she continued. "However, you can't say it won't happen. I think you would make an excellent dad, or even an uncle. Probably the eccentric uncle anyways."

Macon shook his head.

"Ever the optimist I see." Macon replied drily. They started walking up to his house, after he opened the gate for them.

"Well one of us has to be." Lila said as they walked up to the porch.

"I concur." A dry voice said from behind them.

Macon whipped his head. Standing behind the gate was a young man, who looked a lot like Macon. His hair gleamed black and his eyes were much darker than Macon's. In fact, she saw no colored irises. It was like he had just a large overextended pupil. The light probably tricked her eyesight since it was getting dark. It was after five o'clock and the sun went down early at this time in the year.

Macon grabbed her and put her behind him. His eyes never left the sight in front of him of the young man.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Macon growled.

The young man walked up to the gate and for a moment faltered, but then with a smile came onto the property. Macon's grip on her arm started to hurt, and Lila had to stifle a gasp. Macon, and the young man's gazes, had followed the sound she made.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, brother mine?" So, this was Phineas, or Hunting as he liked to be called as per Macon's information.

Hunting came up to her and smiled. His smile, unlike his brother's, chilled her down to the very core of her body. Hunting was so pale and his eyes so dark he seemed like he came from another world. Maybe it was a genetic mutation or birth defect with the eyes. Some people had albino skin; some people had really black eyes and extremely pallid skin. He was about to kiss her hand when, in a nanosecond, Macon let go off her and grasped Hunting's hand in his.

Hunting hadn't even yelled in pain, instead he had a gleeful smile plastered on his face. Lila wanted to smack him upside the head.

"Oh, oh, oh…well what do we have here?"

Macon's eyes bore into his brother. His jaw clenched and his whole demeanor transformed as Lila saw the estranged brother's confrontation. For the second time, the Macon in front of her seemed like a completely different creature. His entire focus was on Hunting. Lila felt the palpable anger coming off him in waves.

"It's happening isn't it?" Hunting motioned with his head at Macon's grasp of his arms. Lila wasn't sure what he was talking about, but was wary all the same.

Macon had tightened his grip on Hunting's wrist as Hunting spoke to him. Hunting, on the other hand, was laughing.

"Oh it is. It is. You were not like this the last time I saw you. It will only be getting worse from now on."

What will get worse? Lila's head circled with possible solutions as Hunting moved closer to his brother. Macon's grip hardened when his Hunting tried to move and his brother pouted.

"You can't try to deny what you'll be brother mine. In a few months everything you know will change. Embrace it. Father would be proud if you do, and if you don't…well you'll disappoint the family name."

Lila had enough. She stepped up to Hunting and glared at him.

"Look whatever you want Macon to embrace, he won't. He is his own person and doesn't need a brother like you to tell him what to do." Macon's eyes snapped to her. Lila had her hands on her hips. Not even a hurricane was going to displace her as she stood before the two foil brothers.

The gaze Macon had given her chilled her to the bone. The bronze, dark orbs of his were frosty and gleamed with an intensity she had never seen before. He barked at her.

"Lila, stay out of this."

All the while, Hunting was looking between the two of them. His eyes had traveled from Macon, to Lila, and back to Macon again. She saw the corners of Hunting's eyes lift up, as if he was surprised.

"Oh…oh this is quite interesting indeed. You," he pointed to Lila, "are out of your depth concerning my brother. I'm sure he was quite dull when it comes to his bedside manner to begin with." He cackled and Macon slapped him. Hunting's eyes had hardened and Macon glared at him.

"I'm warning you, leave now Hunting."

Hunting leaned on the balustrade in a relaxed manner, despite the fact that his brother slapped him previously. The red was still visible against Hunting's pale skin.

"And you'll do what? That little stunt you pulled earlier comes and goes until you truly become what you are meant to be. Face it you're not strong enough to take me down, and there is nothing to stop me from having my fair share of spoils. Remember what happened to Hannah? What a tragedy if your doll faces the same fate." Hunting's gaze on Lila stifled her.

Macon's face contorted into a mask of pure fury, and Lila had half the mind to step away from him. Things were quickly escalating to a point Lila had no idea what would happen next, and hoped the neighbors wouldn't hear.

Hunting's eyes looked at her with a lascivious, and malicious, intent. God, maybe there was a better reason why he called himself Hunting. He needed to be locked up. Macon strode over to where his brother was, and pulled him up by the collar. Hunting had tried to fight, but hadn't been able to win out—or maybe he wasn't even trying to.

"You'll leave. I might not have some skills, but I do have others. You've never tried to develop that part of our lineage." Macon's voice turned husky, and he slammed his brother to the pillar. Lila had half the mind to go over to Macon and tell him to stop, but Hunting had the eyes of a predator when he looked at her.

Hunting's eyes widened and he started to chuckle. It came out more like a hyena's laugh.

"You'll kill yourself. You don't have the sustenance you need to get that kind of power…yet." Macon sat his brother down, but had not allowed him to leave. His gaze burned into his brother's very soul, and Lila knew she would never want to see Macon like this again.

Macon had whispered into his brother's ear, and Lila saw Hunting's eyes widened. Macon shoved Hunting away from the balustrade and would have thrown him down the stairs if Hunting hadn't saved himself. His smile, creepy and malicious, came to haunt her and his eyes gazed into her very own.

"It was nice to meet you. I feel sorry for you that my rude brother isn't telling you everything. Then you really see what kind of monster he is, if his actions tonight hadn't."

Lila watched Hunting go and Macon's breathing had increased tenfold. His eyes never left his brother till he turned around the corner and couldn't be seen again. Macon had closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. His eyebrows were stitched together before they flew open.

"What the hell were you thinking back there?" He yelled at her.

Lila stepped back. She had not expected such ferocity from Macon.

"To help you fight off your insane brother. What the hell is up with him? I thought he would be an annoying red-neck more than a letch." Lila breathed not sure of what had just happened with Hunting, Macon, and herself for that matter.

Macon had started to pace, but looked out at the other houses around. His eyes were gazing at her. Lila had never seen such a haunted look in them before as Macon gazed at his hands. He turned them back and forth as if he had no idea what they were. Lila wasn't sure either since she saw Macon do things she had never thought he would be able to do.

He wasn't the kind of guy to be a body builder, but he lifted up his own brother without breaking a sweat and used an iron grip on Hunting's wrist. Hunting just looked at Macon in glee while he had done it. Shivering, Lila wasn't sure what to do. Macon, on the other hand, was looking worse for wear.

Macon's shoulders sagged as he opened the door to his house. Boo came flying out at him and had a snarl on his face as if the very dog was looking for Hunting, but eased up when Boo saw Lila and his master were no worse for wear.

Lila wasn't sure what to do. Macon peered up from ruffling behind Boo's ears and exhaled a large sigh.

"Lila will you please come in. I…I have something I need to tell you," he waved between the two of them. "If this is going to work out."

His voice became hoarse as he let Boo into the house, and offered his hand for her. However, unlike the past times he had offered his hand this didn't look like an offer but more of a mandatory measure.

Lila stood in front of the door, on the rickety old porch with Boo wagging his tail in question and looking up at his master from inside. Quirking her eyebrows up Lila said, "Besides telling me what you are doing for an exercise regiment?"

Macon wasn't laughing and ignored her quip. God, he was serious about something. He wanted to tell her something, and if it would enlighten as to his psycho brother of his then maybe it would be worth it.

"So, what is it you want to tell me?" Lila walked into Macon's house for the second time, however as she entered the house she got the distinct feeling that nothing between the two of them would ever be the same.

**A/N: I'll be a bit honest I am disappointed that there wasn't at least one single review on the last chapter, but I KNOW people are reading this story. I can check my stats and I see it's getting hits constantly. It only takes a few minutes to write a review, or even if you are too shy to write me a PM to let me know what you think works and doesn't work. **

**I am not the kind of person (anymore) to threaten to not continue if I don't get at least one review, since that's callous and mean. However, reviews are motivators and they let me know what is working and what is not working in the story. If there are things that don't make sense, please let me know. I'm not looking for praise (although it's nice I'll admit) I'm looking for critique. **

**FYI: I always thought it was weird that Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Stohl called Hunting Phineas Ravenwood. Hunting isn't that good of a name, more of a nickname. Besides it was Ethan's aunts who said they never called Hunting, well Hunting but Phineas. So, in my story it's his nickname that people call him on an everyday basis. **


	16. Chapter 16

**I**** am sorry for the delayed posting. This chapter had a lot more problems in terms of revision and editing. So many niggling problems please let me know what you think by writing a review or contacting me via a PM if you want to. Thank you for your time! **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own ****The Caster Chronicles**** by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. They do, not me. I am only writing this story for fun. **

**Chapter Sixteen**

Lila had expected much the same thing to happen the last time she came to Macon's house in Durham. However, there was no ornate silver platter out in the living room and Macon was not sitting down on the couch staring straight in front of him. Instead, he went over to a coat closet where he changed from his navy pea coat to a black trench coat, one with a raised neck line making him look regal.

"Just to make sure you really want to do this, you're going to have to be okay with missing classes for the next day or so." Macon said offhandedly.

He was picking something off the table. Even Boo seemed to be getting ready to go somewhere, as the black shaggy dog was fully alert. Lila wondered what was going on.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"My mother's house."

Lila's mouth opened wide. New Orleans was at least a few days drive away.

"But that's in New Orleans."

"I am well aware of that."

"We'll need plane tickets, and I'll have to call Marian and tell her to…"

"We don't have time." Macon said. He seemed extremely determined to leave and gave her a coat of his.

"You'll need this where we are going to lay low."

He gave her a charcoal gray coat that not only was warm by weight of the fabric, but expensive considering how divine the wool felt on her fingers.

Macon started to walk towards the back of the house and Lila followed him, only to stop him.

"Don't we need to drive to the airport so we can get on a plane to New Orleans, and to answer you from before I sure hope I am missing class for a good reason?"

Macon shook his head.

"We aren't going to get on a plane Lila, and thank you for your response."

"Then how?"

Train? Car? That seemed a time consuming way to go if they were in a hurry. As Macon tightened up his jacket he saw Boo who was inching for their imminent departure. Macon got down on his hunches and whispered into Boo's ear. Boo shook his head as if he understood Macon. Macon and Boo walked over to a nondescript door at the back of the house, and Macon had waved to her to come once she had everything she needed.

In front of them was a simple broom closet and wondered why they weren't going through the front or at least the side door, but Macon went to the closet door. His hand went into his pocket and he grabbed a chain with a very ornate key on it and stuck it in the door lock. Not understanding what he was doing, she was about to open her mouth but Macon opened up the closet first. Only it wasn't a closet, but a staircase that led underground.

"Welcome to the tunnels Lila and I'll explain on the way to New Orleans." They were going to walk underground? That wasn't going to work at all. Was it?

"How?" Macon came up beside her and put his finger on her mouth.

"Just trust me, can you do that? Also please stay close to me the entire time. This is the most direct way, but not the safest." All Lila could do was to nod her head. Taking the plunge, she descended the stairs with Macon and Boo, except Boo decided to run ahead of them and Lila was about to go after him before Macon stopped her.

"He knows where he is going."

Lila's entire brain short circuited. It would take days for them to walk to New Orleans, and how in the world was it possible for there to be an underground tunnel network that only Macon knew about to get there? As they went down the stairs, Macon had taken charge.

The lighting in the tunnels was minimal for awhile, and Macon grabbed her wrist, gently, to take her a different direction almost at every corner. She barely saw where she was going, but Macon navigated these tunnels like they were the back of his hand. They came to a place where there were a lot of different people, except they weren't all people she would see in an everyday place like a grocery store.

"Stay close to me Lila," Macon whispered in her ear.

She whispered back, "Where are we Macon?"

"The Caster Tunnels. They span the entire globe."

Caster Tunnels? What exactly was a Caster to begin with? Shaking her head she continued on.

There were buildings, brick roads, and smoke that came from some of the seedier joints. Macon grasped her hip when they went by one of them. A man with dark hair and black eyes stared at her and tapped a cigarette. Macon looked in his direction and the guy averted his gaze.

"Macon how exactly is this all possible?"

"Magic."

"I mean really Macon, how is it possible?" Macon glanced at her as they stopped in a little alcove. Macon's gaze narrowed as he looked back and forth before he had her walk into it.

"I mean what I said: magic. Casters built the tunnels, and Caster's can use magic."

Macon was talking, but Lila wasn't even listening. Magic? Caster's use magic? What in the world was he going on about? Everybody knew there was no such thing as magic. Illusion was possible. It was smoke and mirrors to begin with. Lila had stopped walking and peered over at Macon. Who's face, although obscured by the shadows of the tunnels, was looking directly into her eyes.

"Lila?" Macon whispered. Shaking her head Lila gaped at Macon.

"Macon I thought you wanted to tell me something. We're underground in a city that shouldn't exist. You're saying it is because it's magic and that these people," Lila waved around at the milling figures of men and women, "are casters and can use magic."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, but they are not all good and they are not all casters either. I'll…get to that later. Just stay close, for now. I'll explain a bit more once we get to my mother's house."

Macon was ten seconds away from Lila running to the nearest loony bin and wondering if she had gone insane, but still the setting around her fascinated her. How in the world was this possible? The ability to breathe oxygen underground in these tunnels was enough to peak her interest. The air around them was cool, mossy even and Lila had to pull the wool coat closer to her.

Macon navigated the city, but he then went a completely different direction where there were no buildings and no light.

"Just hold on to me. These tunnels are designed to make sure people lose their way." His breath tickled her ear as he whispered to her. His hand slipped around her waist and was locked on to the crook in her hip and they walked together.

Fate.

She had to go on fate that Macon was taking her to his mother's house through an impossible route. Macon stopped for a moment and took something out of his pocket. He held it in his hands, and she could have sworn there was a light grey glow surrounding it.

Macon's eyes were shut, but she felt his hand on her. His other hand clenched the glowing object. His breathing was steady coming in and out. He looked limp for a moment and Lila had to make sure he would keep his frame upright. After a few minutes, his entire countenance changed. His back straightened up, his shoulders rolled back, and he had firm expression on his face.

"What just happened to you and that thing you held…it glowed?" She whispered into his ear. Macon's hands stroked her cheek as he lip came near her ear.

"I was communicating with Boo, but it's kind of a long story that I will tell you shortly."

Communicating with Boo? But Boo had run off in front of him. God knows where he was now. Macon was creating more questions than answering them, and Lila began to wonder if this was some sleep-deprived dream. Pinching herself it was no dream seeing as no dream could recreate Macon's touch and the same electrical feeling that travelled from her finger down to her toes.

Macon led her through the darkest tunnels and she was sure they were lost. Then they stopped. Before them stood an old wooden oak door that had a crescent moon on it. In an elegant script the name Valentin was written above. Macon knocked on the door, and whispered into her ear. His breath left a lingering shiver go down her spine.

"Welcome to the Valentin household in New Orleans."

The door opened for them and a ray of light exploded in front of Lila's face. She had to shield her eyes in front of her. The adjustment from pitch black darkness to a beam of light was a lot for her pupils to take in.

"Hello momma." Lila heard Macon say.

Lila lowered her arm she came face to face with an elderly woman.

If she was in her prime, she would have been the bell of the ball. Her frame wasn't petite, but neither large. She was tall, like Macon. Her hair was curly snow white, but had portions that were pink. A style she knew her mother would never wear. Her dress was opulent, silver with white lace and hints of a dark navy blue. Still, her face reminded her of Macon's. The same soft jaw line and the creased eyebrows he had definitely inherited from his mother.

"I expected you a few minutes earlier, but do please come in the both of you."

Macon nudged her to enter and Lila had a host of questions for Macon. She wanted answers now, but Macon, somehow, sensed her caution.

"I'll explain, just let's get inside. It will be safer in there." Like she had much of a choice since Macon was pushing her in.

They walked up the stairs, and Lila found her eyes opening and closing in awe.

The room had high backed velvet chairs that were lounged around in a square-like circle. A bright, and warm, fire was roaring with the red and orange flames licking the grate. The walls went up at least twenty or so feet, and the walls were gilded with scarlet and gold wallpaper. Then the largest surprise of all came.

It wasn't the tunnels or the fact that she was in New Orleans, but a mountain lion sprung up to her, throwing Lila to the ground before Macon was able to get her. The mountain lion's mouth was opened wide, ready to slice her neck. Lila's eyes widened, normally this scene included a dog licking a person's face and had no intention of eating a person.

"It's just Bade, my sister's cat." Cat? That was a freaking mountain lion, as Macon rubbed Bade's ears and he let her go melting under Macon's ministrations.

"Leah! Can you please call off Bade."

Leah must have been somewhere not close by because her voice echoed, but Boo shot out of a hallway Lila had not seen at first and tackled Bade to the ground. Bade gave up on his previous target and now played with Boo. Shaking her head, Lila felt her body shake. What in the world was she getting herself into?

"Momma, I know I should have…" Macon started as he removed his coat and asked for Lila's and put them in the coat closet. His head face down as in defeat, and he was shifting his weight from foot to foot when he came back to his mother.

"Should have told me that you were bringing a guest? Yes, you should have. But no use now, I knew she was coming cher." Arelia's graceful fingers had touched Macon's jaw and tilted Macon's head for her to get a good look at him.

"I knew you would." Macon's focus shifted to Lila after his mother hugged him for a moment, Lila had turned away to give them privacy. Macon, upon seeing this, had pushed her forward to be a bit closer to his mother.

"Lila, this is my mother Arelia Valentin."

"It's nice to meet you ma'm." Lila shook her hand.

She had a hard time believing this was all really happening. She was in New Orleans even though she had not seen the city itself.

"Please call me Arelia. It's not every day my son brings someone home."

Arelia gave her a once over and her eyes glanced at Macon, who had an unreadable expression on his face. So had Arelia for a moment, before her focus went back to Lila.

"Why don't we get something to eat?"

"Did someone say we are eating?"

A young woman came into the living room. Although her voice hadn't contained a Cajun accent, her voice still had a southern twang to it. The voice in question lent itself to a young woman with smooth black hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Izabel I thought you were with…your grandmother," Macon said. His tone had seemed forced, and a bit apprehensive. Lila could tell he was not excited to see this Izabel. Arelia glanced at Macon before her face frowned.

"She had to be somewhere. I told her I could take her in for the time being." Arelia's voice was hesitant at first when she glanced back at Lila, before returning her gaze back to Macon who fell in step with her. Lila felt like the third wheel and had lot of questions she needed to get answered, but her tummy was rumbling. It had been awhile since they ate their Sonic Burgers anyways.

"Mmmm momma, kitchen must have cooked up…" A young female, roughly around the same age, or a bit older, than Izabel came but stopped talking as her eyes fell to Lila.

The new guest wore dark jeans, a black tank top, and black leather gloves cut where the finger tips were cut off so the young woman's black nails were shown. Her brunette hair was tied back in a pony tail. A Siamese cat followed her footsteps down the stairs, purring as it rubbed its body against the young woman's black boots.

Who was Kitchen? That was a weird name for a cook.

"Leah and Izabel, this is Macon's guest…" Arelia looked at her and Lila coughed in front of the two younger teens.

"Lila Jane Evers, I'm a school mate of Macon's." Lila wasn't too sure why she added that comment, but Leah's smile brightened up the room.

"Oh so this is the cher you've told me about, dear brother. I'm Leah and this," Leah pointed down at the cat, "is Lucille. She's momma's cat but likes to spend her time with me too." Leah came up to her and gave her a hug. Lila returned it, albeit, a little awkwardly. Leah smelled of honey and cinnamon. Her eyes were the same bronze coloring as Macon's, with a cat-like iris and an eerie pupil that seemed to go on forever.

Macon coughed. "You've been hanging out with Aunt Twyla again."

Leah just rolled her eyes at her brother, who shook his head in dismay.

"So what can you do?" Izabel queried as she straightened out a black dress she had worn, presumably, for dinner. Izabel tilted her head to the side and looked at her curiously. Macon's gaze snapped to Izabel and he was shifting his weight from his right to his left.

"Lila…" Macon said.

"I can do a lot of things. What exactly do you want to know?" Lila said. She smiled at Izabel. Macon's expression was frantic with the widening of his eyes and how he walked over to where Izabel stood and where Lila had walked over to. Lucille, it seemed, had the idea to run out of dodge. Wonder what the little kitten was afraid of?

"What's your special power?"

"Izabel," Macon snapped. The younger woman stifled a squeak, and everything went to hell as the young woman's green eyes started to glow.

Lila's hair whipped around her, and she heard a crash behind her as a picture came off the wall. What in the world? Things were flying around the house as if a tornado was in there. Another woman, older then Leah and Izabel, came running into the room. She had braids, dreadlocks to be honest, in her hair and looked to be older than Arelia. Her eyes widened at the scene before her.

Leah's mouth opened wide in surprise as she ducked when a potted plant came over her head. Lila stumbled back and fell onto the hardwood floor, and narrowly missed a spinning table and felt her ankle start to hurt. Macon tried to catch her but failed to as she fell backward. Arelia stood like a statue and her eyes stared at Izabel, her hands on her hips and as the room spun around Lila she saw the two of them. Arelia was rather imposing, and Izabel was crying as she saw what was happening around her.

"Stop this at once." Arelia commanded and she brought her hand in front of her and the entire wind storm came to a standstill as Izabel's eyes widened. Around Izabel the dining room where the table nearby, set for ten people, was all over the place. The pictures were crooked on the walls. Plants' pots were in shambles. The chandelier above them swung slowly returning to the center.

Macon held a hand up for Lila to grab, but Lila crab walked away even though her ankle started to swell.

THIS. WAS. NOT. HAPPENING.

"Lila…" Macon started, but Lila rushed to her feet running purely on adrenalin. The new woman had a question mark on her face as she saw Lila and Macon together, but hadn't intervened as she watched on.

"What…" Lila pointed her hand around the living room to Arelia and Izabel. One of whom had her hand over her face, and Leah was patting her back and whispering in her ear the other was looking at her, her face sympathetic. Macon stepped towards her and Lila pointed a finger at him.

"You...what are you?" Lila's voice was horrified at what she had seen before her.

Macon came forward. The lines of his mouth were determined, but his eyes. His eyes were scared, as if he had never wanted any of this to happen to her. She saw him kneel down beside her and left his hand for her to take.

"I wanted to tell you. I told you the truth down in the tunnels. I'm…I'm not really a part of your world."

"Then what are you?" Lila's voice quivered. Macon shut his eyes in distaste and was about to say something, before the older woman with the braids said, "Cher, what's goin' on?"

Arelia looked to see her sister, Twyla, with her braided hair gazed at the scene before her with curiosity and anxiety.

"Izabel lost control and Macon brought a guest." Arelia frowned as she looked at Lila whose face had paled considerably and was about to say something to Lila's question before she got interrupted.

"A caster." Leah said.

Arelia whipped her head around to Leah. Izabel brought her hands down from her face and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Leah strode forward and determined as she came to stand by her brother, who's eyes widened at every single step.

"Like momma, Izabel, and…and I," she said.

Macon gave Leah a piercing look. Leah ignored it.

A caster? Macon had told her the tunnels were Caster tunnels. They were able to travel thousands of miles in a mere number of minutes. The storm inside the house was caused by Izabel and stopped by Arelia and Izabel together. There was magic to behold here.

Magic. The tunnels were made with magic, and casters used magic. So casters were witches? Wizards? Warlocks? It wasn't the greatest name to call one's species…if species was the right word to use in the first place.

"Caster?" Lila repeated almost in a haze and Macon shut his eyes in consternation, avoiding the question in her eyes.

"…Yes." He finally said, as if he hadn't believed it himself. Arelia came up to Lila and offered her a hand. Lila took Macon's, but also allowed herself to be pulled up by Arelia. Twyla, the woman Arelia mentioned, came to help them.

"I know this must be…quite overwhelming. Normally," Arelia's gaze was focused solely on Macon, "people like you, a mortal, are not supposed to know about our world."

At this Twyla's eyes widened, but softened as her gaze went to Lila.

Lila saw the looks she was getting. Izabel's eyes were wide, from fear or her brother? Lila hadn't known. Hadn't Macon told her that he had only a sister? Leah and then Hunting as well as a half sister Delphine. Was Izabel Delphine's sister? She looked like it.

Leah's eyes were sympathetic as she wish what happened hadn't happened. Arelia and Twyla gave Macon a knowing look, and Macon's eyes were tortured and he stepped by Lila and put his hand around her hip.

"I know I shouldn't. I wanted to tell her the truth, since she's been so truthful to me. I didn't want to lie to her anymore because," he swallowed and squeezed her hand in his own, "I love her."

**A/N (warning a bit long but please read):**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I wasn't expecting that many I can tell you, and I understand that things do come up. I was just surprised there wasn't at least one review on the last chapter. Anyways, thank you for the new readers and followers. I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it. **

**Fanofthis:**** Well, I am glad you're back. I am also glad you are enjoying this story**

**Rory****: I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. Thanks again for your support. **

**Nic:**** I am glad you love this story! I am also glad that I did not disappoint with Macon, and I hope I did not disappoint with part one of the big-reveal. Since, you know Macon's not a caster, technically speaking. **

**A few things: **

**Housekeeping:**** This story is getting larger than I had initially planned it to be. I am currently on my way to writing 100K+ words. This is going to be a long story, but I am sorry to tell you that it won't be up that quickly. By the twentieth of this month I am leaving for a vacation, and, directly, after that I have my final semester of school. ****Updates after the nineteenth are going to be sporadic at best****. I'll do my best to have at least a weekly update, but I can't make any promises. I will finish this story; it's just that I ask for you to bear with me till it is finished. **

**Notes:**** I always thought casters were a weird name to name a group of people who are pretty much witches, except they have specific powers and abilities. I get why seeing as they can "cast" spells, but it is still weird. Hence, why Lila mentions it. **

**I also found it odd that the authors used Incubi and Succubae as creatures that, despite what Macon says in the books, are like vampires because they feed on blood (or can feed on dreams too) except they can also cast it seems and travel. **

**The true nature of Incubi and succubae from traditional folklore and mythology were demons who fed off of sex (this is the simplistic definition you can do your own research if you are curious). Incubi were male demons who lay upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sex with them. Succubae were the female form of the Incubi. I am wondering why they didn't at least come up with their own terminology. It's harder I know, but most people get turned off when mythology is used incorrectly like this. I didn't, but I found the use of the terminology a bit weird. Am I alone in this? **

**Bonus:**** I am the first writer in this category to break the 40K+ word mark. Normally this isn't a big deal for me, seeing as other fandoms I had written in had long stories for awhile. Not the case here. **


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N**__**: I know it's been awhile since the last update. If it helps this is a long chapter. **_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I do not own **__**The Caster Chronicles**__**. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. **_

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

Macon's pronouncement of love came without even the sound of crickets. Not a voice could be heard.

Lila thought she would have to deal with just a bourgeoisie family. If that wasn't already hard enough, add the fact that they had supernatural powers on their side.

Macon's resolved quickened as he saw Izabel's mouth agape and Arelia's frown. Twyla stood by her sister, Arelia, and glanced at her, and Macon, every few seconds.

"I know…I know what you are going to say." His eyes glanced at his sister Leah before returning back to his mother.

"That this is wrong. That she can't be here, but things changed when Hunting gave me a visit."

Leah's jaw gnashed when she heard that name. Izabel hid behind Leah, even though they were both around the same size. Ariela's, and Twyla's, stance had straightened.

"He visited you?" His mother whispered.

Macon nodded.

"What did he want?"

"What do you think?"

The acid quality of Macon's voice filled the entire room. Arelia glanced at Lila, who Macon still had his hand wrapped around her hip. Although, it was a comforting gesture before Lila's legs gave out, but Macon caught her as Lila saw black.

#

"Kitchen." Lila heard.

Lila's entire body felt like a cross between that moment before one trips and the moment before a roller coast makes its descent: disoriented and not at ease. She opened one eyelid and saw she was no longer in the dining room, but laying on a couch back in the living room. She felt something fuzzy around her ankles.

A Siamese cat she recalled called Lucille had stretched its back out then lay at her feet while she lay down. Lila's stomach rumbled. Lila saw Arelia call for kitchen again. A bowl of something piping hot had appeared in Twyla's hand. She was only a few feet away from her sister, Arelia.

Why was she lying down?

Then her memories came crashing in as to what happened.

Macon's family had magic.

She started to feel sick again.

"Lila."

Lila opened both of her eyes fully and saw Macon sat by her. His face was wrinkled with worry and held a white washcloth in his hand. He had touched her forehead with it. It was cool and felt good and he let it stay there for awhile. His eyes were filled with worry, as he kneeled beside the velvet lounge chaise she was on.

"You passed out."

"Wouldn't you?" Lila heard herself say, but her throat fell dry and she coughed.

Macon had a glass of water with a straw that popped up in it out of thin air.

Eying it Macon supplied with a small chuckle. "Ah…our kitchen can kind of tell when you need things…when it wants to that is."

Lila was about to take a sip.

"This isn't a poison is it?" Lila frowned.

Macon shook his head.

"It's just water. No poison I promise."

Lila hadn't been able to keep her thirst controlled, so she took a sip of water through the straw. It was the same bendy kind her father got at the grocery store when she was younger to stick in the glass bottles of soda, and watch the sun sets out on their porch.

Macon's mother stood nearby and held a blanket in her hands, and gave it to her. Lila thanked her for it. Izabel came out, no longer behind Leah. She shuffled her feet along the carpet below her. Her head bowed down. Even though she must have been fifteen, Izabel seemed entirely afraid that she would berate her and more like she was six.

"I'm sorry."

What was she sorry about? Macon should have told her before they arrived in New Orleans.

"It's alright. It's just a bit…much." The last word was the understatement of the century.

"Are you feeling better cher? You should probab'ly eat somethin'. Kitchen makes up a pretty incredible gumbo." Leah came in and she sat on the end of the couch and helped Lila with her blanket.

Twyla with her braided hair and jingling necklaces sat down on the armrest of the chaise and nodded her head. "My niece is right, kitchen makes a strong gumbo. I'm Twyla by the way cher, Arelia's sister and Macon's aunt."

Lila heard the rumbling sounds of her stomach and knew she needed to eat, and Leah and Twyla's pronouncement made her feel even hungrier. She was about to get up when Macon gently pushed her back down.

"You should rest and I can get you some chicken noodle soup." Jeeze, she passed out but she wasn't a dainty wallflower.

"Macon I'm fine now. I'm hungry and I'll have you know this isn't the first time this has happened to me."

Macon gave up as Lila pulled the blanket off of her and gave him back the washcloth. Arelia helped her back to the living room that was miraculously clean again. Shaking her head she had an idea she would have to get used this, and fast.

As Macon scooted out a chair for her they all heard a knock on the door. Arelia told them to sit down. She was expecting some more guests it seemed.

Izabel and Leah sat opposite of Macon and Lila. Twyla was next to Leah. The table before Lila was a long oak table with candelabras sitting equidistantly apart. There were flames licking the wicks of the red wax candles that sat upon each candelabras. Fine china and silverware had laced the table. Lila shook her head, the sight in front of her paled in comparison to her mother's collection of "Fine China."

The idea of more guests had haunted Lila. Dealing with as many magical family members as this was already enough to keep her on her toes. She hoped it wouldn't be more of the family. Had that meant Barclay was a caster too? Or was he not in the know? As she thought about it, he probably was.

Great.

"Emmaline, Delphine, and Barclay won't you come in we were just about to start supper," Arelia said.

Her voice floated through the house and Macon's entire spine sat up in an instant. Izabel's face grinned and Leah's eyes glanced at her brother. Guess she was about to sit through her first awkward meet-the-parent's and extended family dinner. It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet.

As Emmaline, Delphine, and Barclay entered the dining room Arelia cleared her throat.

"We have a guest of Macon's joining us, a friend Lila Jane Evers."

Barclay and Delphine's eyes widened when they heard Arelia's announcement and saw her. Lila just sipped the glass of water she had through the straw.

Emmaline, who Izabel ran up to and hugged her and Emmaline hugged her back, must have been Macon's stepmother and Delphine's mother. Missing was Macon's father, and she knew from what Macon had told her he hadn't been on the best of terms with his mother or step-mother for that matter.

"Lila is it?" Emmaline asked as she walked down towards the end of the table and Lila stood up. Macon just sat in his chair.

"Yes Ma'am. It's Lila."

"Well it's nice to meet you. Do you study at Duke with my step-son?" Lila nodded her head and Emmaline smiled at her.

"What subject?" Lila stared at the woman. She had wanted her to talk about school even though she probably knew she shouldn't be here.

"American history," Macon supplied. He took a sip of something dark in a glass goblet. Probably wine.

"Oh? How fascinating. Macon's interested in the same subject. But we'll have plenty of time to discuss, you must be hungry." She patted her shoulder and took her place next to her. Barclay sat at the head and Delphine to his right and Twyla to his left.

Arelia at this time had a platter in her hands of a steaming bowl of something. She could see the shrimp tails and smell the spices of the gumbo.

Barclay and Delphine still stared at her as if they had no idea why she was even there. She decided waving to them wasn't worth the effort, but Macon scooted closer to her like he was a personal wall against his own family. His mother, his step-mother, and his aunt had seemed nice enough, but Barclay and Delphine were another story. Izabel…she would make sure she wouldn't upset her again.

As they gathered around, Macon stood up and nudged her to follow his lead. Arelia came to the head of the table on the left side and as she sat down so did the rest of them. The dinner table was quiet as she cleared her throat.

"I know that tonight we expected one less," she paused, "but I do hope that everyone, for my son's sake and mine, that we will give Miss Lila a warm welcome. And before we begin let us hold hands." Everybody around the table held hands and Lila whispered.

"What is she doing?"

"It's our grace before we eat. Don't worry you're not going to turn into a toad or anything." His signature smirk gave her a boost of confidence. She held her hands with everybody else, and Macon gave her a reassuring squeeze.

The grace wasn't very long. Something about the wheel, the order of things, and a well where something or another came. None of it made any sense to her, but it seemed to make sense to everyone else. She just sat there with her eyes closed like everyone else and sat still. However, as they said their "grace" she could felt a warm charge go through her hands into Macon's and through Emmaline's, who sat next to her.

Normally at graces one dealt with sweaty hands, not electricity. Still it was comforting, warm, and as everyone let their hands go it disappeared. However, Lila could tell that there was still something buzzing in the air.

The gumbo was passed around and Lila took her chance to whisper to Macon.

"What happened when your mother was saying Grace? I felt like electricity was going through me." Macon's eyes furrowed for a moment before he nodded his head.

"What you felt was the power of the Sanguis or the blood ties of the family as we held hands."

That made some sense. Family in its own right was extremely powerful. In a magical household it probably was tenfold or more.

Around the table everyone ate their gumbo, but the conversation was riveting. No one was even speaking and that was what was riveting. During her family meals, there was chatter constantly and at times hard to get a word in edgewise. Not so much in this household.

The scrapes of spoons and the clatter of knives spreading butter on bread could be heard, but most of the attention was on Macon and Lila. Lila especially.

Delphine glanced at her but furrowed her eyebrows at the same time.

"What's wrong with Delphine?" Lila asked Macon and he looked at his half-sister with concern.

"She's a palimphest," Emmaline stated. She took a sip of her wine.

"Excuse me?"

Emmaline sat her glass down and peered at her. Her eyes gave her a knowing look.

"I'll bet my top dollar that you're not a caster yourself, which isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Arelia and Twyla quirked their eyebrows, Macon's grip tightened on his spoon, and Emmaline just continued on—either not looking around her or not caring.

"Caster's, if my step-son didn't tell you have different special abilities. Delphine can see different timelines. It's why she might look a bit woozy. She has a hard time differentiating sometimes."

Lila knitted her eyebrows. "See different timelines, as in the future?"

"The future, the past, the present, the likely present, the likely future, and everything in between."

Lila shook her head. How could anyone stay sane with that much information? What a curse.

"Is she going to be alright?" Lila asked.

Delphine had to excuse herself when her eyes were glazed between Izabel and Lila. Barclay followed her out, wrapping his hand around her shoulders. Emmaline frowned as she watched them leave.

"She will be. She's still getting used to how much her power has increased since her claiming."

Macon slammed his spoon down and Izabel put her hands over her face. Arelia glanced at Izabel, and Leah just massaged her back and whispered into her ear. Twyla's face paled and looked at everyone around the table.

Macon glared at Emmaline. "Why did you have to bring that up now?" His eyes glanced at Izabel who, Lila saw was starting to cry. Emmaline looked at her step-son, her eyes even.

"Because it's a part of our life and Lila was curious."

Lila bit her lip. Obviously the discussion had reared itself from innocent curiosity to something completely different.

"What's a claiming?"

Arelia took a sip of her wine before she glanced at Macon who crossed his hands over his chest in indignation. She sighed.

"The claiming is a ritual passage for a caster. It is when a caster's true nature is chosen on their sixteenth moon."

How was their true nature chosen? Arelia continued but was cautious at the same time.

"A caster can either be light or dark, and on the sixteenth moon it is decided what is their true nature."

"How is it decided? Can it be chosen by the individual who is having their sixteenth moon or is it chosen for them by someone else?" As Lila asked the question, the tension in the room had increased. Maybe she asked the wrong question as Macon was wringing his wrists and Izabel's eyes started to fill with tears.

Emmaline took over for Arelia.

"Most families the caster, on his or her sixteenth moon, chooses what kind of caster they want to be." Lila looked over and saw Macon scrape the spoon along the bowl in agitation and his head whipped over to Emmaline, his eyes narrowing. His step-mom hadn't seemed to care. Interested as to why Macon was getting agitated there was a part of her explanation she wanted to further discuss.

"You mentioned most families, but not all families. Is there a reason why?" Lila queried. Macon stood up suddenly and his voice spat.

"Because some families are cursed."

He left the table in a flurry. Arelia glanced at her son with a worried expression. Izabel hadn't looked much better. Leah excused herself to see to her brother, and Izabel left suddenly. Twyla followed suit. Leaving Emmaline, Arelia, and Lila alone.

Lila had gotten out of her seat to go to Macon, but Emmaline grasped her wrist.

"You better let him cool down. He's in a mood."

Lila hadn't needed Emmaline to say that to her because it was apparent to anyone in that room that Macon was clearly upset. Still, a detail nudged in the back of her mind as she took another swallow of the room temperature gumbo and a sip of water.

"How is a caster cursed?" And most importantly why had Macon left the table? He was seventeen and obviously chosen the light? Hadn't he?

Arelia glanced at Emmaline who nodded. "A caster can't be cursed unless another caster enacted the curse to occur."

Emmaline took over. "What Arelia is trying to say is that a caster is only cursed if their family is cursed because of the deeds that their ancestors had done." Well, then why was Macon worrying? Unless…

"Arelia and Emmaline, is Macon cursed?" The two of them shared a look and Emmaline was about to open her mouth before Arelia held her hand up.

"It would be better if he told you himself, but seeing as Leah told you…"

"That he's a caster and seventeen. Past the claiming, so is he upset because someone he knows is cursed? Or…" Lila began.

"Macon isn't a caster, not technically." Emmaline said and took a final sip of wine.

"Leah said…" Lila began, her mind jumping back to that scene and Macon's reaction.

"Leah lied." Arelia got up from her seat and Emmaline followed suit.

"Why would she lie?" Arelia squeezed her nose in a manner similar to Macon when he was frustrated.

"She lied because she wants to see her brother happy, as I want to see my son the same way." Lila followed her back to the living room and asked about the dishes but they disappeared from sight with the snap of Arelia's fingers. Of course magic.

Emmaline eyed Arelia and found Barclay and Delphine coming back from the bathroom. Delphine had a bit more color in her cheeks and told them they were going out for the evening to get some air. Emmaline had excused herself for to go with them as well. Arelia sighed as she grabbed a book from a large bookshelf nearby and watched Emmaline, Delphine, and Barclay leave.

"So if he isn't a caster, what is he? Human. Then he should be happy, right? Just embarrassed that his family is made up of casters. Is he cursed not to have magic?" Arelia shook her head as she sat down on the reclining velvet red couch and patted on the seat next for Lila to sit down in.

"I wish it were so, but I haven't found anything to change what he will become when he turns eighteen." She opened the book. It had a lot of strange markings on it, and Arelia pulled a blanket over Lila's thighs.

"If this book touches you or you touch it, it will burn you. No mortal can touch a caster book." Okay so hands off the book. What was the world coming to?

Arelia opened up the book and the pages flipped as if they knew what Arelia was looking for.

"What will he become then?" Lila said as her heart raced as Arelia pointed to a description that appeared on the page. It first read in Latin, but an English translation followed suit.

_Lilum—those who dwell in the darkness_

_Incubi (singular Incubus):_

_A male demon, in the caster world, that has the power of superhuman speed, strength, and the ability to travel and cast. _

Lila gazed up at Arelia who stuck her hand on the page for her to continue reading.

_Incubi are dark creatures by nature. Incubi, to gain their abilities, have to feed on humans. _

Lila's eyes whipped up to Arelia in shock, but Arelia told her to read to the bottom of the page.

_Feeding is not the proper phrase to use, but the closest wording as to what Incubi do. Incubi can feed off of two different forms of subsistence from mortals. The first is their dreams and wishes. The second is blood. _

_Among most Incubi, it is considered that blood incubi have more raw power from feeding on the blood of humans, but dream incubi are able to keep a sense of humanity more than their blood incubi brethren._

_ For light casters the dream incubi are the more resilient of their species, but for those who come from a line of blood incubi it is inherited that their taste will go towards those of their ancestors: blood and not the other. _

Arelia closed the book with a thump and Lila felt her mouth go dry. Arelia's eyes softened as she looked on at Lila. Lila started to feel the tears drop down her cheek and Arelia gave her a handkerchief. Everything made sense now regarding Macon's behavior. How he told her how they wouldn't work. Hunting's visit and how he told him he can't change what he is going to become. Her heart dropped as she had to ask.

"When Macon mentioned a curse, curses aren't only for casters are they?" A growing lump made itself apparent in Lila's throat as she struggled to speak. Arelia's eyes lowered and she nodded her head.

"They include Incubi and succubae, the female version, as well. Macon's great-great-great grandfather, Abraham Ravenwood was an already powerful Incubus. He had been a dream Incubus before he made a decision that would change his nature and he would become a blood incubus and all his descendents that followed."

Lila licked her lips in an effort to moisturize them as she asked one final question.

"Macon's afraid of becoming a blood incubus isn't he?"

Arelia's gaze went towards her window as her voice was soft spoken and her Cajun accent became heavier. "Yes he is, cher. He's terrified."

**AN (warning long please read): **

_**Rory:**__** I am not giving up this story. Please read the A/N below this. Also, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Hopefully, I didn't fall below your expectations.**_

_**BookLover:**__** I can see where you are coming from with Lila not swearing, but the way I see it is that she had a bit of a wild side when she was younger. That got tempered through her experiences, getting married, and having a son. Does that make sense? With her character there is so much to explore because we know about her, but we **__**don't know her**__**. **_

**Fanofthis:**** I am glad you like the progression of this story. Hopefully, you'll like the rest of it too.**

**I am sorry (again) for the delayed update, but I did warn you guys in advance that it might be awhile. I am ****NOT**** giving up this story, just remember I am starting my term tomorrow and I am not sure when the next part will be up. I'll try my best to do at least a weekly update. Sound good? **

**Thank you to the new readers who have reviewed, followed, and have favorite this story. Your support means the world to me. **

**Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think. Thank you kindly. **

**Info: **

**A lot of you might be scratching your heads as to why Izabel's grandmother might allow Izabel to house with Arelia. Here's my thought: they would know each other because Emmaline would have known about the previous marriage through either Silas telling her, or her own investigations. **

**The thing is, how and why would Emmaline want to marry (?) or have kids with Silas is beyond me. He's already changed at this point. Also, why didn't Emmaline have any incubi children if Arelia had (considering Leah, Macon, and Hunting are all incubi /succubae yet Emmaline and her sister (the Evo) were both casters?) **

**Whoa…a loophole. There are a few of them in this series let me tell you. **

**Anyways, I thought if Emmaline as the mother can't see her kids often then she would know another person if her mother cannot, hence this is where Arelia steps in. I also have a feeling that Arelia Valentin is pretty high up there in Caster Society considering it's even said in the books it was her who gave Lila the position to be a Keeper. She would be pretty well known, not for her marriage but her abilities and family (the Valentins not Ravenwood). So, she would be trustworthy.**

**I also gather that the parent's do see their kids occasionally in the Caster World, that's also why Emmaline is there at Arelia's house too. She would only be there for a day or so, even if it's not the High Holidays yet. They must see their kids occasionally from time to time, in spurts. Otherwise, they wouldn't know their parents at all. **


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: Hey there! I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile and for the short chapter as well. I don't see that changing anytime soon (concerning updates), but I will post more chapters. Just bear with me please.  
**_

_**Please don't forget to tell me what you think. Thanks!**_

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own ****The Caster Chronicles****. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl do. **

_**Chapter Eighteen**_

"Isn't there something you can do!" Lila shouted.

No longer crying, She was a woman of action and not passive. If anything Macon had taught her within their first meetings was that she defined her own life, and so could he. Curses are damned. Claimings are damned. People could claim themselves. So would Macon.

"I've tried. I've exhausted all the available resources that I know of. I've travelled around the world going from one Lunae Libre, Caster Library, to another. I've been looking all my life since I met Macon's father so I could change his nature too. He was a good man, before he went through The Transformation at eighteen. When he truly became a demon. I escaped barely with my life and Leah." Arelia said. Her eyes were forlorn as she looked at the book.

Lila ground her teeth together. Jaws gnashing and her temper rising.

"But not Macon, or his brother Hunting?"

Arelia had tears in her eyes and set the book down on the coffee table to turn to her. Her hands shaking.

"I wanted to take them with me. Macon, and Hunting even, were the sons I've always wanted and I want what's best for them. Don't you think if I could have done something I would have done it! Silas kept them barred from me. I had no choice but to leave with Leah. I never thought I would see him again till Macon found out where I was and ran from Ravenwood Manor to New Orleans. I vowed I would keep him safe from his father and brother."

Arelia's face flushed and the tears flew freely. Lila's heart wrenched at the very sight. Arelia had fallen in love with Macon's father. The father he had hated, but had never told her what he really was. Her mind had numbed at the thought of history repeating itself, only she was a mere mortal and no caster.

"Now you know what I really am."

Lila's head snapped up when she saw Macon standing a few feet from the couch.

Macon's haunted expression on his face was eerie in the fireplace's shadows. He leaned against the bricks, wearing all black, and his entire body suggested disgust with himself. Who he was. Who he was going to be. Arelia peered at him.

"You should have told her yourself before you came."

Lila frowned when Macon stepped away from the fireplace and came towards the couch. Every step he took was measured and precise, as if he was trying to make a statement (or be a total drama queen because had had been in the past).

Macon ignored his mother and came face to face with Lila. His bronze eyes oddly inverted seeing as there was more darkness in his eyes than she had ever seen before. Steeling herself Lila knew Macon was trying to make a point and scare her off. No.

"A demon. A predator among men. A monster. A charlatan who thought he had a chance at something real. A lying person to someone who had been so honest..." Macon snarled at her his voice dripping with revulsion.

Lila had enough. Macon _had to stop feeling so damn sorry for himself_. She had always tried to be honest, but if she was really honest she would do the right thing as Macon had told her.

_The easy and the right thing were never the same thing. _

Before she knew it she got up from the couch and went to stand right before Macon who towered over her. She never considered herself an impulsive person, but as she circled her arms around Macon's and put her lips to his she wanted him to know everything. She accepted him for who he was. Not what he might become. Her grandmother had always told her life was full of roadblocks, not impossibilities. This was just a roadblock. Macon was not, and would never be, a monster in her eyes.

Macon stumbled back at the intensity of Lila's kiss. Arelia was stunned at Lila's actions, so were Delphine and Barclay who watched and their jaws dropped in unison, Leah had a secret smile on her face, and Izabel had watched in awe hoping that one day she might meet someone who was the male equivalent of Lila who would love her for who she was, and what she might become.

Lila pulled every emotion from deep within her. From that very first glance Macon had given her when he had her copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in front of him. To the young man who had seen her on one of her lowest days in the diner, to the Macon who had an umbrella and like a good old fashioned lover boy came to the rescue and brought her some coffee, and the night where both their barriers came down and they let go of their inhibitions and fell into the abyss. She had truly, and deeply, loved this man. He was always a man to her. Nothing else.

She brought her hands to Macon's back as she leaned into him, and he leaned into her. Her lips touched his and his response was immediate as he allowed her in. Her tongue found its way to his, and created their own dance. Macon's bronze eyes, stunned at her ferocity but gave away to the tenderness she knew Macon possessed. A monster had no feelings, Macon had them in droves.

As she took her lips off his she had said, and quite loudly knowing there was a crowd watching.

"Macon I don't care about what you might become. I love you and that is all that matters. You hear me? I accept you, but we'll get through this together."

Macon had pushed her, to distance himself and to revert to the scared and terrified rabbit that was afraid of the hunter. The hunter he thought he would become.

"You don't get it do you. This isn't a might, it's a definite!"

"You can choose your own fate!"

Not caring that the entire house heard them. Not caring that around Macon and her, his mother, step-mother, aunt, sister, and half-sisters were watching. The battle for Macon's was on. The battle for Macon to know he was not a lost cause, not while she had a living breath in her body. Even in the life after next she would find a way. She would save Macon, and she had no idea why but he meant more to her than any other guy. She might be considered sick. She might be considered insipid for her romantic notions.

Macon stood there his chest heaving, his shoulders sagging, and his eyes fogged up with pent up emotion. Staring at Lila who had her hands on her hips and determination in her eyes he knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Lila came forward and stroked his cheek even though he flinched back.

"How could a man like you Macon become something so evil? You will never be evil to me." Lila whispered. Macon's heart had dropped Lila felt with her body next to his. His entire body convulsed with emotion, but hid it well from the on watchers. He never had thought he would love, ever Lila knew. He never had thought he had the ability to be accepted by anyone. She had changed all that.

She had pulled his head down, but he had helped by doing so willingly and she left butterfly kisses on his eyes and nose and her eyes shone when he looked into them.

"I'll be here Macon. I'll always be here for you."

_**A/N: **_**Just for clarification Izabel hasn't met John soon, but she will. Thanks for reading. **

**And, oh yes I went there (if you saw the movie version of Beautiful Creatures you will know what I am referring to concerning dialogue). Italicized writing is either directly from the book or from the screenplay of Beautiful Creatures. I cannot take credit for it, but it works here. **

**Rory****: I am not sure this is as big as you thought it would be, but I do hope it propels the characters a bit. Thank you for your support. **


End file.
